Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail’s The Earthworm Book contains practical information about the place of earthworms in local ecosystems, the various types of earthworms present in the soil, their anatomy, the economics of composting and vermiwash production and the application of these in organic farming from vegetables to crops.

Dr Ismail also provides invaluable and practical information about how to set up vermiculture, vermicomposting and vermiwash units.

Throughout the book, Dr Ismail stresses the importance of working with nature and describes the hazards of disturbing the ecosystem in the name of biotechnology and advanced farming practices.  He also firmly advocates the use of local earthworms in preference to exotic species.

Although the book is serious in its intent, the language used is fairly simple and scientific terminology has been kept at a level that can be  easily understood by the lay reader.

About the Author: Dr Sultan Ahmed Ismail is India’s leading authority on earthworms.  He is Director of the Eco Science Research Foundation in Chennai and is a Technical Consultatn to the Organic Farming Association of India.