In the past, the use of earthworms and their castings or excretions in promoting plant growth had been widespread. In fact, ancient agricultural lands in Egypt, North America and Asia were abundant of earthworms, which were known to help spur and maintain overall productivity of lands. With the introduction of chemical fertilizers and the robust demand for food, agriculturists switched to the modern technology and systems of cropping to be able to cope up with fast demand and consumption.

These days, more and more farmers and agriculturists are reverting back to the old, organic and chemicals-free mode of farming. Putting earthworms into farms and plant plots has become a standard in ensuring that plants will grow better and healthier. But because of the adverse weather conditions and other factors, earthworms helpful to farming do not easily grow, thrive and propagate. This is the reason why vermiculture has become an important sector of agriculture. 

Vermiculture is the process and technology of artificially cultivating or rearing earthworms for agricultural and productive purposes. Gone are the days when earthworms are regarded and treated as pests and as disgusting, small and crawling organisms. Now, worms are raised to reproduce faster. They are even fed and given optimal and ideal environment for growth and metabolism.

Earthworms are the only means to attain vermicomposting, which is in turn a way to significantly boost organic and important nutrients in the soil. The idea behind the process is that worms' excretions make the soil richer. Scientifically, vermiculture castings or earthworms' excretions, when mixed in the soil, have seven times more phosphorus, five times nitrate, 11 times potash, thrice amounts of magnesium and almost two times more calcium than normal soil used optimally for vegetable cropping in the most fertile agricultural lands. That is far better than what chemical and synthetic agricultural fertilizers can provide.

In a nutshell, overall benefits of vermiculture can never be underestimated. Vermiculture worms convert wastes, such as left over foods, tea bags, fruit peelings, vegetable scraps, eggshells and animal manure, into organic matter that fertilizes the soil and provide high humus content. Worms even facilitate entry of air into soil, which in turn helps increase resistance of plants so that there will be natural organic pesticide features that drive away pests. There are even earthworm species that can be used as animal feed or as extenders to several processed foods.

Through the modern vermiculture technology, soil friendly earthworms are assisted so that they could reproduce faster and raise population by three to four times in just a month or two. Businesses specializing in the initiatives prepare and allot facilities ideal for earthworm reproduction and cultivation. Earthworms are naturally demised by too much exposure to light, particularly sunlight, high and extremely freezing temperatures and non-moist soil. Thus, vermiculture involves artificially facilitating good and ideal environments where earthworms could thrive.