What do invertebrates like earthworms eat to grow? What kind of soil is best for raising them? What is the market price per jin? What is the farming outlook? How do you raise them?

The earthworm, also known as dilong, qushan, jiancan, yinwu, quexing, hanxin, mingqi, diqiao, and ruanshan, is a common invertebrate in China. It is used medicinally because it has effects such as promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis and dredging meridians and collaterals, and it also has certain benefits for purifying air and making fertilizer, so many people raise it. Then what do earthworms eat to grow? What kind of soil is best for raising them? What is the market price per jin? What is the farming outlook? How do you raise them?

What do they eat?

The decaying organic matter and large amount of soil particles that earthworms swallow are digested and excreted as castings, which are rich in nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Earthworms pile soil to one side or swallow it directly as they search for food, and they also dig burrows in this way. Some earthworms carry swallowed soil to the soil surface and excrete it in the form of small soil particles or earthworm castings.

What kind of soil is used for raising them?

1. Ground rearing requires garden soil and manure, and the manure does not need to be fermented. Method: take garden soil 5 cm thick; cow manure must not exceed 5 cm; cow manure 70% plus pig or chicken manure 30%, and this must not exceed 2 cm. Density per 1 sq m: earthworms 1 kg.

2. Three-dimensional box rearing does not require soil. The manure must undergo fermentation treatment. Method: cow manure 100%; cow manure 50% plus straw 50%; cow manure 70% plus pig or chicken manure 30%; density per 1 sq m, 25 cm, earthworms 5 kg.

Latest market price:

At present, the wholesale price of earthworms in the Tianjin area is 30 yuan/kg, about 3.00 yuan/jin lower than in other areas. According to local farmers, although now is not the best period for selling earthworms, the local earthworm market is relatively active in trading, and farmers are actively shipping goods. Recently, the earthworm market has been sluggish and market demand is low, mainly due to seasonal factors. According to quotation information provided by the Quanxian area of Guangxi, the local wholesale price of earthworms is 250 yuan/10,000 worms, supply is sufficient, and market transaction volume is average.

Farming outlook analysis:

1. Earthworms have made a huge contribution to ecological farming in China. The concept of ecologically healthy eating has become deeply rooted in people's hearts, and environmentally friendly green healthy food is a product urgently needed by consumers in the market. Looking at the current market situation, taking free-range chickens as an example, traditional free-range chickens fed entirely on feed have gradually lost the market, but sales of “ecological worm chickens” are very strong. At the same time, for free-range chickens, how can there be such a big difference in sales volume and consumer popularity? Is it simply because the word ecological has been added? Obviously not. The meat of ecological worm chickens is more delicate than that of ordinary chickens, with a more unique flavor, rich nutrition, and delicious healthfulness. A large part of this credit goes to the “worms.” Earthworms are one of them. Earthworms are rich in nutrients, and using them as feed can not only promote the growth of chickens but also avoid many harmful additives, reduce costs, and promote the development of ecological farming.

2. Earthworms are a high-quality protein feed. Earthworms contain a lot of protein, and the protein content in dry matter can reach about 70%, while general analysis results can also yield 41.62-66% crude protein. According to reports, the protein of earthworms contains many amino acids, and these amino acids are essential for the growth and development of livestock, poultry, and fish. Among them, the highest content is leucine, followed by arginine and lysine. The arginine content in earthworm protein is 2 times that of peanut protein and 3 times that of fish protein; the tryptophan content is 4 times that of animal blood meal protein and 7 times that of bovine liver. Not only does the earthworm body contain a large amount of protein, but its fecal pellets also contain a certain amount of protein. The Japan Food Analysis Center once analyzed earthworm castings. When the moisture content was only about 11%, the total nitrogen contained in the castings was about 3.6%, which converts to 22.5% crude protein.

3. Earthworms give very strong support to the environmental protection cause. Why is that said? Everyone should know that earthworms have extremely strong digestive ability and can decompose many kinds of organic matter and utilize it themselves. Raising earthworms to treat garbage is already an environmental protection method adopted by many developed countries. With the rapid development of modern industry and agriculture, large amounts of industrial waste are discharged, causing serious public hazards. Large quantities of pesticides are applied, polluting vast areas of farmland. The human environment has been seriously polluted, directly affecting human health. This environmental pollution problem has attracted international attention.

4. It is understood that raising 330 million earthworms can treat 100 tons of papermaking sludge every day. Japan can treat as much as 3,000 tons of such waste per month using earthworms, and in the United States, 500 million earthworms are used to treat 200 tons of industrial waste every day. The number of earthworms required is enormous, and one can imagine how much farming space this provides for farmers to use. It not only drives economic development but also effectively solves part of the difficult problem of environmental pollution. Raising earthworms is indeed a feasible farming project.

Farming techniques:

1. Earthworm box rearing method

Earthworm box rearing can use boxes, baskets, basins, jars, buckets, etc., and is suitable for raising Eisenia earthworms, such as Eisenia foetida, and the red earthworms such as Daping No. 2 and Beixing No. 2 introduced from Japan. Eisenia earthworms like to live in rotten grass, compost, cow and horse manure, and decaying dead branches and fallen leaves, rotten vegetables, melons and fruits, as well as waste residue from papermaking, fiber, and food processing plants and domestic garbage, but it must first be piled and fermented and only used as a base material for raising earthworms after the temperature drops.

2. Pit and pond rearing method

Earthworm pit rearing includes earth pits, brick ponds, old pig pens, under eaves, at the foot of walls, corners of houses, and all usable places, all of which can be built into rearing ponds with bricks and stones. In addition to Eisenia (red earthworms), it is also suitable for raising green earthworms. Fermented feed can be added in layers in the pit or pond to introduce earthworms for rearing. If there are many earthworms, another layer of feed can be added on top of the soil, keeping soil moisture at about 30%. Old pig pens can also be converted into rearing ponds for stocking.

3. Field free-range method

Earthworm free-range rearing is suitable for mulberry fields, vegetable gardens, orchards, nurseries, feed fields, perennial economic plants, forest areas, and fertile farmland with convenient irrigation and sufficient water, and is suitable for raising green earthworms. Before free-range rearing, add preliminarily decomposed organic fertilizer, such as horse and cow manure, straw, weeds, pig and sheep manure, dead leaves, rotten grass, etc. The number of breeding earthworms released depends on the earthworm species and individual size. Green manure or green feed can be planted between rows.

4. Large-scale rearing

Large-scale earthworm rearing is mainly used for factory-scale rearing of Eisenia foetida. This rearing method must have a certain dedicated site and facilities, including a feed processing site, temperature-controlled workshop, rearing beds, cocoon hatching beds, earthworm processing workshop, fertilizer processing and packaging workshop, finished product laboratory, and finished product warehouse, and so on, a whole set of equipment. Of course, the method of dispersed rearing and centralized processing can also be adopted, such as distributing part of the rearing to collectives or individuals for rearing, while the factory centralizes finished product processing or processing.