Such methods provide a unique opportunity to recover large quantities of organic wastes, converting them, as in manufacturing, into valuable products for agriculture, forestry, horticulture, and pollution management. In vermicomposting, earthworms obtain their nutrition from the microorganisms thriving on the decaying organic matter. As the worms multiply, they can consume more material. Their feeding also increases the surface area of the material being treated, thus increasing microbial growth. As this process continues, complex changes occur and eventually a finely structured material, known as worm castings or vermicompost, is produced.
Worm castings are suitable as both a plant growth medium and an agricultural soil amendment.
Again, the earthworms consume microbes and small particles of organic matter to produce worm castings. The feeding rate, also known as the loading rate, for vermicomposting systems is governed primarily by the amount of food that the population of worms can consume. The varying rates may be attributable to variations in temperature, pH, or other environmental conditions. Experience from existing projects suggests that for planning purposes, a loading rate of 0.25 to 0.5 lb. Thus, the estimated total weight of the worm population in a vermicomposting system will be used to determine the loading rate.