Why Earthworms are Farmers Friend

The earthworm belongs to the phylum Annelida and class Oligochaeta. The earthworms are cosmopolitan in distribution, occurring all over the world, except in arctic and Antarctic polar regions.

The species like Megascolex and Drawida are found n south India. The genus Pheretima has about 500 species, Pheretima Posthuma is the most common south Indian species of earthworm.
The earthworm is a terrestrial animal which live in burrows in the moist soil rich in dead and decaying organic matters or humus. According to scientist Henson, one acre of land might contain about 50,000 earthworms.

Earthworms are called farmers friend since it ploughs the soil and keeps on turning out earth from below and also manures the soil. It is a nocturnal animal and during the day time it remains active in the burrows with its anterior end facing upwards.

Usually the earthworm comes out of the burrow at night and moves in search of food which consists of decaying vegetable and animal matters.

The undigested matter with urea comes out of the anus in the form of "worm castings" which enrich the soil with nitrogen, hence earthworms are called Friend of the farmer.

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