Large quantities of organic wastes are produced from agricultural production and farming systems, including animal manures, sewage biosolids, food and restaurant wastes, and industrial organic wastes.  These have the potential of increasing global soil and water pollution, because they are currently disposed of by land-spreading, incineration, or into landfills.  As much as 50%-60% of the total wastes that are disposed into landfills are organic wastes.  If these were turned into materials useful in agriculture and horticulture, there would be great savings in primary plant nutrients and metabolic energy.  Vermicomposting may also reduce populations of total coliform bacteria – indicating the possible use of vermicomposting to reduce the levels of these pathogens to stabilize biosolids from wastewater treatment plants.

As costs of organic-waste disposal have escalated and the environmental regulations on their disposal have become increasingly restrictive, there is much greater interest in exploiting organic wastes as fertilizers, soil conditioners, and amendments or as energy sources, such as for methane production.  The increasing amount of organic wastes, which is growing globally, inspires various industries to look for newer and environmentally acceptable methods of turning waste into value-added materials. When vermicompost is added to soil, it boosts the nutrients available to plants and enhances soil structure and drainage. Vermicompost has also been shown to increase plant growth and suppress plant disease and insect pest attacks. Vermicompost products have many applications, including home gardening, landscaping, turfgrass, golf courses, viticulture, DOT projects, use in potting soil for the horticultural industry, and in agriculture.

The beauty of vermiculture and vermicomposting is that is it highly scalable: it can be done by individual households, or by large organizations.  It can be low-tech or high tech.  Finally, it can be used throughout the temperate zones of the world.

(Figure 03 Small Scale)

(Figure 04 Large Scale)