Every living thing and microorganism in the soil ecosystem is like every tissue or organ in the human body. It has its indispensable functions and roles, and earthworms are as important as the spleen and stomach.
This is an earthworm catching machine. Insert the conductive needle into the ground and turn on the switch. In less than a minute, after receiving the electric shock, earthworms of different lengths twist their bodies and scramble out of the soil for people to pick up.
The unbearable pain! It’s not just earthworms that suffer this fate, but also the soil in which they live and the ecosystem behind them.
In response to this electric earthworm behavior, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation filed an environmental public interest lawsuit against three electric earthworm machine manufacturers in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province. In the end, the court ordered the three companies to apologize and compensate 1.59 million yuan for ecological and environmental losses. Recently, this public interest litigation case has attracted widespread attention after being reported by the media. However, the reporter searched a well-known e-commerce platform and found that various electric earthworm machines are still on sale, and the sales volume is huge. Advertising slogans such as "No earthworms come out, guaranteed", "Catch a hundred pounds a day", "Earthworms come out in 6 seconds", etc. are clearly visible.
"It is very necessary to strengthen the public's understanding of earthworms!" Sun Zhenjun, a professor at the Department of Ecology, School of Resources and Environment, China Agricultural University, who has studied earthworms all his life, said angrily, "Some people actually think that these three companies were fined 1.59 million yuan. It’s unfair. Some people think that earthworms don’t belong to anyone, so why can’t they be electrified? There is terrible ecological ignorance behind this.”
How could catching earthworms cause a lawsuit and make Professor Sun so angry? To this end, reporters entered the world of earthworms.
Darwin said: Where there are earthworms, there is fertile soil.
Although earthworms are well known to most people, there may not be many people who really understand them. It's slippery, cold, insignificant, and hard to arouse good feelings; living in the mud, it doesn't seem to matter whether it's there or not, whether it's too much or too little. However, Darwin, the founder of evolution theory , had a special liking for earthworms. He had studied them for more than 40 years and gave a very high evaluation to them in his works -
"If the plow is one of the earliest inventions of mankind, then mankind has Earthworms have been plowing the land before they appeared on the earth, and they will continue to be plowed by them. "It is difficult to find other creatures like them that, although seemingly humble, have played such a role in the history of the world." "Earthworms are the most valuable animals in the world. Where there are earthworms, there is fertile soil."
In 1881, Darwin published his last scientific work, titled "The Production of Humus and the Origin of Earthworms." effect". Sun Zhenjun told reporters that Darwin once deduced that if there are 50,000 earthworms per acre, they can excrete 7.68-18.41 tons of excrement by devouring the soil every year. If these earthworm excrements are spread on the ground, it will be enough in 10 years. It is 2.54-3.81 cm thick, thus gradually changing the soil. "You must know that when human beings face a piece of land, they cannot transform it if they want to, but earthworms have this kind of magical power." Sun Zhenjun said.
Over hundreds of millions of years, "earthworms are the most important animal group in the history of evolution." The formation of the earth's soil is inseparable from the countless cultivation of earthworms. Through activities such as feeding, digestion, excretion, mucus secretion and burrowing, earthworms have made a contribution that cannot be ignored to the soil's material cycle and energy transfer. Earthworms are indispensable for the earth's ecological environment today.
Earthworms are annelids that belong to terrestrial invertebrate organisms. They have a simple body structure and a tubular digestive system running through the body. They eat various organic matter such as dead branches and leaves, animal feces, etc. In Sun Zhenjun's view, the greatest contribution of earthworms is their role as decomposers in the ecological cycle.“In the ecological cycle composed of producers (plants)-consumers (animals and humans)-decomposers (microorganisms and animals), the amount of plant production that can be directly used by animals and humans usually accounts for no more than Half. For example, humans only consume wheat grains and leave a lot of straw; this is especially true for livestock and poultry breeding. These agricultural and forestry wastes and animal manure require the action of decomposers before they can be returned to the ecosystem."
" If it is decomposed in time and cannot be returned to plant production, it will accumulate and cause environmental pollution. This is equivalent to a four-lane highway suddenly converging into a small trail. What will happen?" Sun Zhenjun said, "From an ecological perspective? The purpose of this analogy is to illustrate that decomposers are equally important as producers and consumers. "Earthworms are the accelerator of the decomposition of organic matter in the soil. By rapidly decomposing organic matter, the nutrients are released through feces, and are released in the soil." This high-speed decomposition changes the soil's physical and chemical properties such as pH and bulk density.
At the same time, earthworms have a very important impact on the speed and shape of soil structure formation, microstructure, aggregates, and the physical conditions required for plant growth and nutrient absorption. Sun Zhenjun said, "First of all, it can improve the physical properties of the soil." Soil with good physical properties is mainly reflected in the aggregate structure. Earthworms drill holes in the soil, which can greatly improve the soil's aggregate structure, loosen the soil, and increase oxygen and air permeability in the soil, which is beneficial to the nutrient absorption and growth of the root system.
"Secondly, it provides nutrients to the soil and improves the chemical properties of the soil." Earthworm droppings are rich in inorganic salts such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, which can increase soil organic matter and improve soil structure, and can also promote acidic or alkaline soil changes. It is neutral soil , adding phosphorus and other quick-acting ingredients to make the soil suitable for the growth of crops. "In addition, earthworms are at the top of the soil food chain and play an important biological regulatory role in soil biological communities. Their existence plays an important role in the stability of the ecosystem."
This is earthworms. In the underground world that no one pays attention to, they are engaged in work that affects the soil, ecology and even human survival; they look dirty, but they perform the function of purification; they eat and convert live and dead animal and plant materials into nutrients , returns to the soil, and new life grows from it.
The disappearance of earthworms in farmland means that the cultivated layer is unhealthy
In modern times, after the beginning of modern cognition, earthworms have won the title of "nature's gardener", "field biological plow", "ecosystem engineer", "soil fertility transformer" and "micro reformer" It has a long list of reputations such as "earth workshop", but it has also been intervened by more human activities and thus generated more interactions.
"Everyone who grew crops in the past had experience. Wherever there are many earthworms, crops will grow well." Xu Xianjun, the former deputy director of the Soil and Fertilizer Station of Henan Province, recalled his childhood scenes, "There were so many earthworms when I was a child that they plowed up the soil. , Earthworms can be seen crawling around everywhere. When it rains, earthworms will come to the ground to breathe. "
"Earthworms and soil have a symbiotic relationship," Xu Xianjun said, "There are more earthworms, which will help improve the soil structure. A healthy cultivated layer increases soil fertility and promotes the development of crop roots. If you dig up the plot and see a lot of earthworms, it means that the cultivated land is fertile and of higher quality. On the other hand, if the earthworms in the farmland disappear, it means that the ecological environment of the cultivated land has been damaged. , the cultivated layer is unhealthy. "
For soil, earthworms are a very good indicator animal that can help people judge the quality of cultivated land. It is generally believed that when the number of earthworms per square meter of soil is greater than 50, it means that the soil is in a healthy state; when the number is 20-50, it means that the soil is in a moderate state of degradation; when the number is 4-20, it means that the soil is in a severely degraded state. Status; if the number is less than 4, it means the soil is in an extremely unhealthy state.
Since the mid-20th century, with the increase in population and economic development, global soil degradation has been alarming. 2 billion hectares of soil resources have been degraded, and the trend is still intensifying. Concepts such as "soil safety", "soil quality", "soil health" and "soil protection" have subsequently entered people's horizons. Research has found that the pedosphere is the most active layer in the earth's surface system and is the core element in the geosphere system that connects the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. The so-called soil security refers to a state in which soil continues to provide ecosystem services such as food, fiber and freshwater resources to humans, while maintaining biodiversity and relative stability. Professor Wang Chong, deputy dean of the School of Resources and Environment of China Agricultural University, said with concern, "But this diversity and stability are gradually being broken, and people can clearly feel that there are fewer earthworms."
In recent years, my country has We also face problems such as soil natural fertility degradation, soil "thinning", "thinning" and "hardening", which are highlighted by soil desertification, hardening, salinization and acidification. Fertility is the most significant label of the soil itself, and it is also the reservoir that supplies nutrients, water, air and heat for plant growth. In the soil, it is often the uppermost humus layer and organic layer that bear the important task of transmitting fertility to plants. Humus comes from the degradation or resynthesis of plant residues by organisms. This part of the soil is also prone to degradation.
"Soil is alive and alive." Professor Liu Kefeng of Beijing Agricultural College told reporters: "Soil is the product of the co-evolution of organisms and the environment. Earthworms have their own ecological niche in the ecosystem. If When earthworms or other organisms in the soil gradually disappear, the soil will slowly lose its vitality. Without soil organisms, the biological cycle is unsustainable, and how can the agricultural biological cycle be sustainable? "
Research shows that soil is the largest habitat on the earth. , huge biodiversity. Generally speaking, 1 gram of soil contains 1 billion bacteria and 200 million fungal hyphae. The number of organisms in the soil exceeds the total number of people on the earth. Under one square meter of healthy soil, up to 1.5 kilograms of organisms can be found, including earthworms, roundworms, springtails, mites and insect larvae, as well as many microorganisms, including bacteria, Protists and fungi. Earthworms, considered giants in the soil, form a very complex food web with other soil organisms, which together shape the soil under our feet.
However, due to the unreasonable use of chemical inputs such as fertilizers, pesticides and films, the soil ecosystem under our feet has inevitably been damaged. How to create healthy soil and ensure soil quality? How to make agricultural systems more sustainable? Let the reduced number of earthworms increase again? In recent years, a series of “soil defense battles” have been launched. Laws and regulations such as the "Soil Pollution Prevention and Control Law" and the "Black Soil Protection Law" are continuously implemented. Policies such as the " Soil Ten Articles" and the "Black Soil Protection Plan" have been introduced one after another. Conservation farming technology, healthy cultivated layer construction technology, and organic fertilizers have replaced chemical fertilizers. Comprehensive use of other measures...
"Soil conditioners developed using earthworms and vermicomposts are also being put into use one after another." Wang Chong told reporters, "Vermicomposts are microorganisms, plant hormones , humic acids and other active substances. The biggest feature of carriers and substrates is to reasonably combine organic matter-microorganisms- growth factors to improve the soil environment, and ultimately achieve the purpose of increasing fertilizer, resisting diseases, and nourishing the soil." While people are focusing on earthworms and gaining economic benefits by selling electric earthworm machines and hunting wild earthworms, there are also some people who realize the huge value of earthworms, cultivate earthworms artificially, and build a three-dimensional ecological cycle industry chain through earthworms.
In Dabai Village, Jiuxian Town, Yanqing District, Beijing, the base of Beijing Dadi Julong Earthworm Breeding Cooperative covers an area of 120 acres. 44 white greenhouses are lined up neatly, and 230 ridges of earthworm breeding beds are lined up in the south of the greenhouses. Each ridge has a thin and long black dropper shaped like an earthworm. To the north of the greenhouse is an organic fertilizer field. On one side is a large organic fertilizer dispensing machine. Next to it are piles of large and small cow dung and vermicomposts. On a summer afternoon, there was no stinking smell in the fertilizer farm, only a warm fermentation smell.
Beijing Dadi Julong Earthworm Breeding Cooperative Base. Photographed by Zhang Pengcheng
Walking into the greenhouse, corn, vegetables, fruits and other crops grown on the edge of the greenhouse are bright and green. Ma Yanming, the head of the cooperative, scratched the surface of the earthworm breeding bed, and dozens of earthworms were exposed. They had pink bodies, some the size of toothpicks, some like thin threads, and a few light yellow earthworm eggs like millet. . "This kind of earthworm is Daping No. 2, which is commonly cultivated in various places. Planting starts in March every year, harvested in June, and raised until the end of October. It is in hibernation for 4 months in winter."
Dabai Lao The village is a professional cattle raising village. Before 2007, every household raised cattle. At its peak, the number of cattle was more than 10,000, and the annual output of cattle dung was more than 80,000 tons. However, less than 30% of the cow dung is used for cultivated land every year, and the rest can only be piled up randomly. "At that time, cow dung piled up like mountains, and when it rained, the streets were filled with sewage." Ma Yanming recalled.
After the introduction of earthworm farming in 2012, Ma Yanming’s farm took over all the cow dung in the village, and now also covers nearby towns and villages. Cow manure became the food source of earthworms, and the pollution problem was solved. Green circular agriculture based on earthworm manure was also derived. "We mainly produce two products. One is earthworms, which are sold to pharmaceutical factories at a price of 7-8 yuan per catty. They extract lumbrokinase and are used to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The other is to process earthworm castings. It can be turned into organic fertilizer, or horticulture seedling substrate, cultivation substrate, used for roof greening and potted plants . "
"The weight of material decomposed by an earthworm in one day is equivalent to its own weight." Today, Dadi Julong Biotechnology Co., Ltd. averages every year. It processes 80,000 tons of cow dung, produces 120-150 tons of earthworms, and produces 80,000-100,000 tons of organic fertilizer or substrate. The company has also developed two invention patents for seedling nursery substrate and cultivation substrate, as well as vermicompost organic fertilizers such as grape-specific fertilizer and flower-specific fertilizer, which have been used by Yanqing District agricultural planting parks and farmers for many years.
Research has found that earthworm castings are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and other elements needed by plants. It also contains iron, manganese, zinc, copper, magnesium and other trace elements and 18 kinds of amino acids . The organic matter and humus content reaches 30 About %, it is called the "King of Organic Fertilizers". In addition, vermicompost contains earthworm antagonistic microorganisms and plant auxin , which can provide nutrients for various fruits and crops.
According to reports, vermicompost was added to the potted vegetables and substrate soil in the vegetable garden of the Yanqing Expo. Xisen Potato Company in Yanqing District purchased pure vermicompost. Liu Kefeng has long been committed to the research and promotion of high-efficiency organic fertilizers and horticultural substrates. He said: "Vermicompost is a mild organic fertilizer. You don't have to worry about the dosage. If you use more, it will not cause burning of seedlings. Vermicompost contains a large amount of Humic substances, mucopolysaccharides and other substances can easily form multi-level aggregates, and a large number of aggregate structures can improve the soil's air permeability, retain water and fertilizer, and make vegetable seedlings stronger. Get sick.”
Watermelon grown using vermicompost culture medium.Photo by Zhang Siqi
At the breeding base in Yutangshan, Changping District, Beijing, Gao Weiqi, who started cultivating earthworms in 1997, had the same experience. He pointed at the crops around the earthworm bed and said, "Look at these vegetables and corn, they are all made of earthworm castings. , How good it looks!”
Liu Qing, the person in charge of Henan Fengshuobao Agricultural Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd., is a standard " new farmer" born in the 1980s. He started his own business from an accounting firm in 2018 and takes care of more than 30 acres of earthworms. Breeding base. Although due to high costs such as land transfer fees and labor costs, the market sales were not fully opened and she basically did not make any money, she was full of hope, “I entered the industry because I thought that earthworm breeding is a green ecological industry and is in line with the future development direction. . On the one hand, there are so many livestock and poultry breeding enterprises in my country, which produce a large amount of fecal waste every year. On the other hand, the quality of cultivated land is in urgent need of efficient organic fertilizer. How much room does earthworm breeding have to help the sustainable development of my country's agriculture? "
4
Earthworms are full of treasures, and their value is far from being fully developed.
If “electric earthworms” only focus on the palm-sized interests in front of them, regardless of the ecological interests related to human survival, then the artificially cultivated earthworm industry is turning its attention to Investing in a more distant time and space, we can realize the value of earthworms to a greater extent by integrating ecological interests, social interests and economic interests through circular chains. Of course, from a larger circulation perspective, the value of earthworms is far from being fully developed.
Sun Zhenjun said that earthworms as a new industry began in the late 1970s. In 1975, Japanese researchers selected a variety of earthworms (trade name Dahira No. 2) suitable for large-scale artificial breeding. my country introduced earthworms from Japan in 1979 and has experienced three earthworm breeding booms. The first time was from 1979 to 1984, which was mainly for seed speculation without substantial development and utilization. The second time began in the early 1990s. With the commercial production of the new thrombolytic drug lumbrokinase, pharmaceutical companies needed a large amount of fresh earthworms as raw materials. The third time was after 2000. With the rise of green, organic, and circular agriculture, the demand for vermicompost (the king of organic fertilizers) increased, which promoted the rapid development of vermiculture. In recent years, the country has stepped up environmental pollution control and vigorously promoted the resource utilization of agricultural waste such as livestock and poultry manure, making earthworms relatively mature in the development of environmental protection and soil remediation application technologies, especially earthworm breeding in garbage and sludge treatment and environmental monitoring. , it is widely used in environmental restoration, which has given birth to the development and growth of the earthworm industry.
The first World Earthworm Congress in 2018 was held in Shanghai, and the World Earthworm Industry Alliance (in preparation) was also established in Shanghai, marking that the development of my country's earthworm industry has reached a new stage. With earthworms as the core, it connects industries such as medicine, food, feed, fertilizer and cosmetics, and the earthworm industry is in the ascendant.
Tianyancha data shows that there are currently 34,000 companies in my country with “earthworm breeding” in their names or business scope. In terms of geographical distribution, Shaanxi Province has the largest number of related companies, with nearly 15,000 companies, accounting for 43.9%. Shandong and Anhui rank second and third with more than 7,100 and more than 2,100 companies respectively. In terms of registered capital, more than 74% of earthworm breeding-related enterprises have a registered capital of less than 1 million yuan, of which 48% have a registered capital of less than 1 million yuan; in terms of establishment time, 69.5% of related enterprises were established within the past year. .
In recent years, earthworm breeding enterprises have grown rapidly. Among them, more than 2,400 new companies will be added in 2020, with an annual registration growth rate of 51.8%; more than 9,300 new related companies will be added in 2021, with an annual registration growth rate of 133.12%. Since 2022, more than 19,000 related companies have been added.
During the interview, many earthworm farmers called fervently, hoping that the society would pay more attention to and understand earthworms. Earthworms are full of treasures, and the earthworm industry is an industry that has hundreds of benefits and no harm; it is hoped that government departments can formulate plans for the earthworm industry. Industry standards, and a series of standards for earthworm product quality and earthworm organic fertilizer quality have been introduced; it is hoped that relevant parties will increase the research, development, promotion and application of earthworm products.
5
The "Electric Earthworm" case calls for the protection of wild earthworm resources
Some people may ask, since earthworms can be artificially cultivated in large areas, why do "Electric Earthworms" need to be hunted in an "extinction style"?
It should be noted that earthworms are also known as Dilong . What the "electric earthworms" hunt are " Dilong " and "Hu Dilong", which are mainly distributed in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Hainan and other provinces (districts). ). Dilong is a traditional Chinese medicinal material that has the effects of unblocking collaterals and relieving asthma. It is the main raw material for the production of drugs that lower blood pressure, relax blood vessels, and dissolve thrombosis.
According to the different habits of earthworms, they are generally divided into three categories: surface-dwelling type, soil-dwelling type and top-eating and bottom-dwelling type. The surface-dwelling type lives in the fallen leaf layer and does not burrow into the soil. Daping No. 2 belongs to this type. As long as it is piled with feces and other waste, it will not escape or burrow into the soil. The upper-eating and lower-dwelling type is It lives underground and feeds on the ground. It is this kind of earthworm. It can dig holes. When it comes to the ground every morning, the earthworms will pile up higher and higher, and the dung mound will get bigger and bigger. There is a kind of earthworm in India, and the dung mound can be as high as One meter; the earth-dwelling type never comes to the ground and is a true "underground worker".
artificially cultured earthworms. Photographed by Zhang Siqi
According to reports, the large-scale breeding of Guangdilong that has left the soil has not yet been successful, and most of them are captured from the wild for medicinal use. Modern chemical agriculture and industry in the main producing areas of Earthworm have developed rapidly. Various pollution factors have caused the living environment of Earthworm to deteriorate, and the output has become increasingly low. On the other hand, traditional Chinese medicine has received attention in recent years, and the medicinal value of Dilong has been continuously developed, resulting in increased demand. Therefore, the purchase price of Dilong has increased from tens of yuan per kilogram in the early years to more than 300 yuan per kilogram now. .
Against this background, some so-called "smart people" invented the electric earthworm machine, which made harvesting very convenient. If the number of earthworms is large, fifty or sixty kilograms can be harvested in half an hour. The threshold is low and you can hunt them anytime and anywhere. Therefore, "electric earthworms" are regarded as a short and quick way to get rich and have become a side job for some people.
"Unknown to everyone, this method of fishing in the lake is extremely damaging to wild resources. Many small earthworms have no time to get out and are electrocuted to death in the ground. This has once again aggravated the decline in the number of earthworms." Sun Zhenjun said sadly.
How to continue to meet the needs of traditional Chinese medicine while creating an environment conducive to the growth of earthworms? Sun Zhenjun suggested that the Guangdilong ecological conservation area should be established as soon as possible to protect wild earthworm resources. The first step is to find out the family background and find out the current main distribution areas of Guangdilong. The second is to investigate whether the environment suitable for the growth of earthworms has changed. The third is to combine it with the utilization of waste resources to develop an efficient three-dimensional economy under the forest. Daping No. 2 earthworms are cultured in the litter layer under the forest to create a suitable environment and promote the proliferation of Diplophora underground. Some Chinese medicinal materials can also be interplanted. "In this way, earthworms reproduce quickly, which can not only promote the protection of earthworm populations, sustainably provide earthworms for traditional Chinese medicine, but also increase the value of idle underforest resources. Currently, Hainan Wanning , Qionghai and other places are carrying out The Hainan Wanning Guangdilong Ecological Conservation Zone has been established in Beida Town, Wanning, and the earthworm ecological breeding experiment demonstration under the rubber forest. Sun Zhenjun said: "At the same time, it is also recommended that the country introduces the protection of wild earthworms. Regulations, improve relevant laws and regulations, and increase punishment for 'electric earthworms. Every tissue or organ has its indispensable function and role, and earthworms are as important as the spleen and stomach. The consequence of electric shock is that the decomposers are completely destroyed and the soil activity is completely damaged. This is not only a corruption of environmental ethics. , is also a serious crime outside the law. "
Respect nature, revere nature, and care for every link in the ecological chain. It is we humans who will ultimately benefit.
Author: Reporter Bai Fengzhe of Farmers Daily·China Agricultural Network
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