Effect of Soil Physical State on the Earthworms in Hungary

Hungarian authors have long been discussing the role of earthworms in improving soil productivity. Earthworm counts in our higher quality soils are similar to those found in soils where more attention is paid to earthworm activity. Negative impacts that are independent of farming—such as sustained dry spells in the summer—also affect earthworm counts. Negative impacts that definitely depend on farming include land use causing soil moisture loss, deep stubble treatment leaving the soil without cover, and ploughing in the summer without subsequent pressing. The climate change is having both positive and negative impacts. Weather patterns are causing losses but adopting climate mitigating tillage are generating benefits. In the trials results so far show that tillage focusing on preserving soil moisture, structure, and organic materials, covering the surface in the critical months as well as adequate soil loosening are fundamental pre-requisites for making the soil a favourable habitat for earthworms. 1. Introduction “These entirely deaf and blind little creatures do immense good to the soil”. Róbert BALLENEGGER, 1938 We have a relatively rich technical literature in the field of agriculture in Hungary dealing with the importance of the activities of earthworms, including text from before the birth of Christ, from China, Egypt, and Rome. Some [1–3] refer to Darwin’s work dated 1881 [4] as providing more precise data on these soil habitats than those originating from practical observance. Hungarian books written for farmers to improve their skills drew, initially, on works of Roman authors—Cato, Columella, Varro, Vergilius—and later on, since the 1800s, as referred to by Jolánkai [5], on books written by West European authors, Liebig, Lawes, Schultz-Lupitz, Thaer, Wolny, and so forth as well. Works of Hungarian classical authors [6–8] refer to the soil biological life only in general terms but they do not mention earthworms’ activity. The science of soil physics developed impressively from the 1920s on. Consequently, authors began to pay increasing attention to soil biological activity in books on tillage and soil science [9–13]. Although the role of earthworms in enhancing the fertility of soils has long been recognised, concrete reports in books on tillage and soil science did not appear until as late as 1938. Ballenegger [1] refers to earthworms as useful beings in the soil. According to Fekete [14] the deep layer of chernozem soils with high humus content results from earthworms’ mixing activity. Grábner [2] noted that earthworm casting contains a