Raising Earthworms Under Trees Kills Three Birds with One Stone: A Young Man in Tancheng, Shandong Has a Knack for Farming

On September 3, the author met Zheng Qingchen, a young man who raises earthworms under trees, in Sheng Village, Matou Town, Tancheng County. Happily, he scooped up a handful of organic fertilizer teeming with earthworms and showed everyone how well the "soft gold" earthworms were growing. Look, under the ginkgo trees lie warm beds built from cow dung and straw; turn over the top layer of organic fertilizer and the earthworms are packed densely, hastily stretching and wriggling, and the light-shy earthworms desperately burrow down into the lower layers.

The young man Zheng Qingchen explained that raising earthworms under trees can improve the compacted soil environment of the woodland, and the cow dung the earthworms eat also provides rich organic fertilizer for the trees, which is more conducive to the growth of the trees, forming a three-dimensional complementary model of tree planting and earthworm farming. In the past, most of the cow dung was sold to nearby farmers for use as compost at a low price; now it is sold to earthworm raisers at 200 yuan per cart, and after fermentation and harmless treatment by the earthworms, it becomes organic fertilizer for growing vegetables in greenhouses, grapes and fruit. Earthworms can be used as fishing bait, animal extracts, agricultural and sideline product processing, raw animal medicinal materials, and so on, and market supply falls short of demand. One mu of land can produce about 1 ton of earthworms per year, with a net profit of 10,000 yuan, while the earthworm castings produced can also sell for 600-800 yuan per ton. Throughout the whole cycle, energy is utilized layer by layer, which not only increases farmers' income but also makes use of idle resources, providing favorable conditions for gradually improving the surrounding environment.