Definition of Vermiculture and Vermicomposting

The definitions were taken from "Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture By Glenn Munroe, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada".

"Vermiculture is the culture of earthworms. The goal is to continually increase the number of worms in order to obtain a sustainable harvest. The worms are either used to expand a vermicomposting operation or sold to customers who use them for the same or other purposes [e.g. fish bait].

Vermicomposting is the process by which worms are used to convert organic materials (usually wastes) into a humus-like material known as vermicompost. The goal is to process the material as quickly and efficiently as possible.

These two processes are similar but different. If your goal is to produce vermicompost, you will want to have your maximum worm population density all of the time. If your goal is to produce worms, you will want to keep the population density low enough that reproductive rates are optimized."

Thanks Mr. Munroe

Manual of On-Farm Vermicomposting and Vermiculture By Glenn Munroe, Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada