The humble creatures – which break down organic matter and aerate soils – contribute to as much as 6.5% of the world’s grain harvests
Earthworms’ contribution to the world’s grain harvest matches that of Russia, according to a study documenting their enormous role in food production.
This amounts to 140 millions of tonnes of food a year, researchers said, which would make earthworms the fourth largest global producer if they were a country. Russia produced 150m tonnes in 2022 and expects to produce 120m tonnes this year.
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