**1. Introduction**

Increasing population and food demand has forced the farming community to apply excess amount of chemical fertilizer that leads to degradation of soil health and causing environmental pollution. Factor productivity of the soil is also decreasing due to injudicious fertilization. The technology advancement and industrialization has created many challenges associated with sustainability. Sustainability is a concept of utilizing the natural resources without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their own needs. Rapid urbanization and industrial growth is worrisome with respect to huge amount of waste generation. Unscientific management of these wastes causing social, economic, and environmental problems. After consuming so much chemicals during the green revolution era, the soil eventually became unproductive due to a lack of sufficient organic matter amendments. Vermicomposting is one of the many potential approaches that have gained significant attention over decades. It is an eco-friendly concept of waste management where decomposition process is aided by microorganisms [1–3]. Earthworms are the biological engineers since the beginning of humankind. The technique of culturing earthworm for managing wastes and preparing compost is known as vermicomposting. Vermicomposting is defined as a bio-oxidative process where earthworms and decomposer microorganisms (bacteria,

fungi, and actinomycetes) act synergistically to manage organic waste in a scientific way that also aids in improvement of soil physical, chemical, and biological properties [4]. A wide range of raw materials (**Figure 1**) such as agricultural waste [5], animal waste [6], and municipality [7] waste are decomposed by earthworms and microorganisms for preparing vermicompost. This bio-technique increases mineralization of waste material led to enhancement in bioavailability of essential plant nutrients. Vermicompost not only supplies plant nutrients and growth promoting hormones but also improves soil physical property through soil aggregation [8]. Hence it is used as a component of organic farming. Vermicompost has also been proven to be a miraculous plant growth stimulator [9]. Vermicast, the end product is also rich in hormones and enzymes which make the soil environment favorable for soil biota. Residue burning is a common issue nowadays that causing severe environmental hazards. This issue can also be overcome by adopting vermicomposting technique.

In spite of having so many benefits, use of vermicompost is still not accepted widely due to lack of awareness and technology barriers. There is a need for proper extension to explore the potentialities of vermicompost. So, this study was conducted with the objectives for getting a precise idea about general properties, preparation methods, benefits and its limitations, and most importantly understanding the significance of vermicompost in crop production.

**Figure 1.** *Vermicompost and its role in agriculture.*

**Figure 2.** *Earth warm classification.*
