Potential role of vermicompost and its extracts in alleviating climatic impacts on crop production
McMaster Vambe, Roger M. Coopoosamy, Georgina D. Arthur, Kuben Naidoo
Abstract
The past few decades have seen worldwide increases in ambient temperatures due to the continuous accumulation of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (water vapour, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide) in the atmosphere, a phenomenon known as global warming. Global warming causes a gradual shift in nearly all climatic and weather variables resulting in increased incidence of flooding, droughts, desertification, disease and pest outbreaks. Due to its intrinsic relationship with nature, agriculture is highly vulnerable to the changing climate, and as such, farmers, agricultural experts and other stakeholders need to urgently seek sustainable ways to avert impending food shortages. There is currently little information in the literature on the potential use of vermicompost to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change on agriculture production. However, existing empirical evidence strongly suggests that vermicompost and its derivatives contain humic acids, nutrients, earthworm excretions, rich microbial populations, growth hormones and enzymes, which help crops withstand a wide range of abiotic and biotic stresses. The present review explores various ways in which vermicompost and its products can help minimize climatic impacts on crop production. Online research and journal databases (Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Scopus, and SpringerLink) were used to obtain reports related to agriculture, climate change, vermicompost, abiotic and biotic stresses. The review reveals some of the manifold attributes of vermicompost which could help augment farm production under changing climatic conditions.