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Worms Can Help Farmers Adapt to Climate Change

by Pennell Paugh

power-of-wormsA study performed by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Society concluded that worms can play a key role to help farmers adapt to extreme weather. Worms improve soil structure, reduce water use in the garden, act as natural fertilizers, reduce greenhouse gases and save on the costs of waste removal.

Dr Chris Stoate, head of research at the society’s Allerton Project farm, said:

When fields are not ploughed, the soil condition is improved ­naturally by the tunneling of ­earthworms, which absorb water at a rate of four to 10 times that of fields which are without worm ­tunnels.

This in turn helps the soil to take up water during storms and to retain it during drought.

The study recommended that farmers cut back on traditional ploughing and harness the power of the army of the eco-friendly microbes and earthworms that live in the soil.

Reference

Winter, S. How Turning Worms Will Save Planet (2011, October 11) Express.co.uk. Retrieved from: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/274941/How-turning-worms-will-save-planet

Savoie, O. Successful Worm Farming. eHow Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/about_5476512_successful-worm-farming.html

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