Beneficial Functions of Vermiwash and Vermicompost for Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Nowadays, with the rapid increase in the global population, food consumption has also increased and in order to meet these demands, farmers are using a number of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides to enhance the productivity of their crops. Synthetic pesticides, fertilizers, and weedicides include carbamates, organophosphates, organochlorines, pyrethroids, hexaconazole, benomyl, propiconazole, etc. However, the indiscriminate and excessive use of all these chemicals has led to unprecedented problems for the normal functioning of the ecosystem. These problems include faster evolution of resistant forms of pests, harm to their natural predators, harm to non-target organisms, contamination of the soil health, and alterations in the global food web associated with the soil ecosystem, and ultimately causing human health complications as well. Keeping in mind the long-term hazardous effects of such synthetic chemical fertilizers or pesticides on the environment, the urgent need is to shift from chemical farming to organic farming. Organic fertilizers, such as vermicompost, vermiwash, etc. are currently attracting the interest of the scientific and agricultural community as they offer sustainable agriculture and a healthy ecosystem. Vermiwash is an organic drainage that can be obtained as a byproduct from vermicompost set-ups. The water that percolates down the vermiculture, resulting in the washing of the earthworms (live or dead), soil microorganisms, and decomposed organic matter, collects a variety of dissolved nutrients as well as essential amino acids with it and, hence, can be a potential source for plants nutrients for enhanced yield in organic farming. Vermiwash may be used as an eco-friendly alternative to synthetic pesticides for enhanced crop yield. This chapter summarizes the role of vermiwash as a sustainable tool for enhanced crop production without deteriorating the quality of soil and ecosystem.