Earthworm abundance is shown in Table 2. Earthworms were
unable to survive and reproduce in the mineral treatment. No
earthworms were observed in the compost and vermicompost
treatments after the first maize cultivation despite large quantities
of earthworm casts on the soil surface. For the next two
crops, earthworm abundance increased more with compost than
with vermicompost(P < 0.05). The improved development of earthworms
with compost was also confirmed by the increased weight
of earthworm casts sampled at the end of the experiment (24% vs.
13% of the soil, respectively, for the compost and vermicompost
treatments) (P < 0.05).