Several key technologies for rural earthworm farming

You can ask Gemdale Agricultural Earthworm Breeding Base.

There are various methods of cultivating earthworms, which can be summarized into three types, namely simple farming, field farming and factory farming.

1. Simple breeding method. This method includes box culture, pit culture, pond culture, shed culture, hotbed culture, etc., its specific method is to add feed and fertile soil in layers in containers, pits or ponds, the same material and soil, and then put the kind of earthworms, in the breeding process, strengthen feeding management. This method is suitable for farmers and urban residents, using the open space in front of the house, behind the house, in the courtyard, as well as old containers, brick ponds, seedling hotbeds, etc., to produce animal protein waste feed, process organic fertilizer, and dispose of household waste.

Its advantages are local materials, low investment, simple equipment, simple management methods, and the use of amateur or auxiliary labor to make full use of organic waste.

2. Field breeding method. Choose mulberry orchards, vegetable gardens, orchards or fodder fields that are relatively flat and can be irrigated and drained, open trenches along the rows of plants, apply well-rotted organic fertilizer, cover about 10 cm with soil, put earthworms for breeding, often pay attention to irrigation or drainage, and keep the soil moisture content at about 30%. In winter, the ground can be covered with plastic film to promote earthworm activity and reproduction.

Due to the large number of earthworm activities, the soil is loose and porous, with good permeability, and no-tillage can be practiced. Therefore, this is a simple and easy farming method suitable for multiple uses in rural areas.

3. Factory farming method. This method requires a certain number of specialized sites and facilities suitable for large-scale production of earthworms.

1.Breeding method: Ten years after the establishment of the farm, we have been insisting on open-air compost farming, I think, this method is low-cost, is the best way to produce earthworm products on a large scale, without any investment in equipment, the use of all idle land, as long as the unfermented cow dung, horse manure, pig manure made into 15-20 cm high, wide meters, length is not limited, put into the worm seeds, cover the straw, shading and moisturizing, you can breed.

2.We started to raise from a few square meters, until now, more than 200 acres of land are used in this method, its advantage is that it is easy to operate, save a series of work of stacking and fermentation, bait to keep nutrients from loss, improve the growth rate of earthworms, and is easy to promote and apply in rural areas. This method also has its drawbacks:

Once the bait is heated, the earthworm is dead and the body is gone, and in summer, even after the rainy day and the rainstorm, the bed is not breathable, and there is a phenomenon of escape.

3.The way to avoid this is to have new bait for each breeding bed. The bait is piled up in blocks to create good bottom-up conditions for earthworms. The key to this method is to keep the water content of the bait at 60-70%, not too dry and too wet, otherwise the bait will heat up and die.

Earthworms like moisture and are afraid of dryness: the water content of the earthworm is about 80%, and the water content of the bait is required to be 60%-80% (to hold the material by hand, and the finger seam dripping shall prevail), so the water content of the breeding bed is required to be more than 60%, so that every day or every 1-2 days, it must be watered once, the water is not too large, but it is necessary to water thoroughly and connect the lower layer of material, and the watering time is to water at noon in winter, water at night in summer, and water during the day in spring and autumn.

Like air, like quiet, loose bait is conducive to the growth of earthworms, our years of experience is to turn the bed over (about 20 cm thick) before feeding to increase ventilation. This is important because over the years, we have found that the number of earthworms in the bottom of the bed soil is very small, but the bait is still available, mainly because of the lack of air, which is not good for the growth of earthworms.