Could earthworms help transform the future of organic farming? - BBC World Service, CrowdScience

Worms are not the cutest of creatures. But by working soil to improve it’s quality, they can help to improve the crop, so could play a key role in our planet’s future agricultural success. Subscribe - BBC CrowdScience listener Dinesh, an organic farmer in India’s Tamil Nadu province, thinks earthworms are underrated. He got in touch with CrowdScience to ask them to explore earthworms, and whether they could play a bigger role in the future of organic farming. Presenter Anand Jagatia dons his gardening gloves and digs the dirt on these remarkable creatures, discovering how they can help improve soil quality, prevent fields from becoming waterlogged and improve microbial numbers, all of which has the potential to increase crop yield. But he also investigates the so-called “earthworm dilemma“ and the idea that in some parts of the world, boreal forest worms are releasing carbon back into the atmosphere, which could have dangerous consequences for climate change. Listen to and download the CrowdScience podcast here: Website: Twitter: Facebook: #BBC #OrganicFarming