earthworms: more important than you thought

Sometimes, we forget the little things in our lives. We forget where we have left our keys or to post a letter. These are minor things in our lives yet have serious consequences – like not being able to get into the car to go to work! Well, there is something which we have forgotten which is incomparably more vital than keys, shopping list and letter posting. It is the earthworm.

We have already spoken about the importance of bees and they have received a lot of press recently. Earthworms are equally important as they glide around under the soil, and here’s why.

Recent research from Wageningen University in the Netherlands has found that earthworms boost crop yields by 25%. On average! While it has long been known that organic matter in the soil encourages plant growth and that the presence of earthworms signifies the presence of good quality organic matter, this study explains what the earthworms are doing.

So the little earthworm which you see if you are digging in the garden and probably remember most from being a child and thinking they were slimy and horrible, are actually very important. The 25% yield increase is coupled with an increase in above ground biomass of 23%. What appears to be happening according to the researchers is that as the earthworms feed and burrow, they release nitrogen which is then easily available for the plant to access. So these slimy little creatures are helping us in a huge way and are really very important to our crop yields and biodiversity.

Earthworms, however, are facing a bit of a problem. Maybe not quite to the same crisis levels as bees, but a problem all the same. The use of pesticides can have a devastating effect on the earthworm. The worst culprits are the neonicotinoids which are damaging the bee populations so significantly. In getting rid of pests, we are severely damaging our soil’s biodiversity, crops yields and the wider environment.

It might be time that instead of looking for short term solutions, we think long term. There will always be bad spells in any industry which relies on the weather, however, these come and go. When you’re in a long term occupation like farming, however, it becomes extremely important that you build not just for the year but into the future as well.

With this in mind, it is probably time we cared more about the little things. In the same way as ‘look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves’ we need to look after the worms and the bees and the crops should start looking after themselves. At least a bit!

Thanks for reading!

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