Vermicomposting corn waste under cultural and climatic conditions of the Brazilian Backwoods

Vermicomposting has been reported an important technology to recycle organic matter and nutrients from agricultural waste. However, the climatic conditions are obstacles in the semi-arid, since high temperatures and low humidity can interfere negatively in the earthworm adaptation and vermicompost production. Thus, in this study, vermicomposting was applied in the corn waste treatment (corn cob and straw), under cultural (using local residues and replicable field conditions) and climatic conditions of the Brazilian Backwoods. For 120 days a chemical monitoring was conducted. The results showed an increase in the OM stability, besides a considerable rise in the vermicompost agricultural potential: CEC increased from ~37 to 649 cmol c kg −1 ; OM and TOC reduced from ~83 to 49% and ~43 to 27%, respectively. Finally, the prepared vermicomposts are suited to improve the soil quality and promote a modern agriculture, increasing the productivity and income generation in the field.