The soil… We work it, we enrich it, we sow it and we want to get the best possible yield from it, but too often we abuse it. However, the health of a soil supports the profitability and good quality of agricultural production.
Climate change is very present and brings its share of consequences. For example, every year we see periods of drought and heat waves that endanger our crops. Conversely, the high abundance of rapid precipitation also causes damage to both the crop and the soil due to erosion. To support profitability and sustainability in agriculture, solutions exist: increasing soil resilience by adding organic matter, planting green manures by stealth or intercropping and promoting microbial life.
Indispensable allies
Earthworms are essential allies in agriculture. Indeed, the presence of earthworms improves soil aeration, root growth and water management, reduces erosion and maintains pH. The fertility of the soil is all the more increased as the twists of worms contain a host of micro-organisms which make the fertilizing elements much more assimilable by the plants.
With a good worm population, the topsoil of a soil can be completely digested in five years. Moreover, in 1 m3 of land, there are 500 m of galleries dug by worms, which allow the flow of 170 mm of water per hour. One gram of worms represents four grams of bacteria essential to soil life.
Additionally, worm tunnels Lumbricus terrestris can survive decades in the ground, even after the death of their inhabitants. These tunnels allow vertical drainage like no other machinery can.
The worm is also an excellent tiller. It eats the earth and rejects it in a form enriched with microorganisms. For producers using direct seeding, the earthworm is undeniably useful and economical.
With all the benefits that this extraordinary being can bring to your floors, think otherwise. Consider feeding it with intercrops and green manures, a process commonly referred to as “food crops”.
It is also advisable to work the soil as little as possible, leaving the worm to do its exemplary work as a ploughman. One can also opt for conservation practices and leave residues on the surface. To see all the complexity of tillage, observe it at the beginning of the night. You will see how this hard worker plays a remarkable role.
Remember that soil without worms is soil that does not recover. Indeed, a living soil is the central point of a sustainable and profitable agriculture. Take care of your floors, they are organicliving nisms.
Hélène Beaumont, agr., eTeacher in Agricultural Business Management and Technology at Cégep de Sherbrooke
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