ABSTRACT
Elevation of annelids from an academic interest to economic importance and ‘wealth from waste’ by vermiculture has been one of the objectives of this book. Possibly engaging symbiotic microbes, the annelids produce valuable fatty acids and vitamins, which cannot be synthesized by finfishes and shellfish. Hence, the worms can serve as valuable live feed in aquaculture. In the ricefields, tubificids and naidids play a complex role in nitrification and denitrification processes. Harvesting them at appropriate intervals may reduce the application of nitrogen fertilizer. Research inputs are urgently required in this vitally important field of rice cultivation. The earthworms Aporrectodea longa and Eudrilus eugeniae, the polychaetes Nereis virens, Branchiura sowerbyi, Tubifex tubifex and Lumbricillus rivalis are identified as candidate species for vermiculture. Appropriate species in earthworms, polychaetes and aquatic oligochaetes remain to be discovered to promote vermiculture in tropical countries.
