Our assertion is that intensive tillage methods have destroyed the viability of our croplands over the last one half century. In order to maintain the ability of these lands to grow crops, we have used and over-used chemical fertilizers which pose an ongoing environmental threat to our air and waterways. The benefits of conservation tillage methods are widely known, however the time to successfully transition to such methods can be ill afforded by the majority of our financially strapped farmers. We assert that the reintroduction of earthworms can speed cropland transition to conservation tillage methods and is a key to the long-term health and viability of our land to sustain production year after year. ABI has worked with leading earthworm experts and industrial partners perfecting a method to reintroduce earthworms economically back into our croplands. ABI has a patent and patent-pending method to encapsulate earthworm cocoons so that they may be planted in the spring with that season's crop. Encapsulated earthworm cocoons can be hand-placed into the seed hoppers while loading the planter or pre-placed in a bag of seed by the seed company. The encapsulated cocoons are sized during the encapsulation process to provide a density and size approximately equal to that of the crop seed being planted. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this research effort are to determine the shelf-life viability of encapsulated earthworm cocoons and to see if the encapsulated earthworm cocoons maintain a high viability rate after going through the encapsulation process. This research will determine the viability rate of un-encapsulated earthworm cocoons and to see if Earthworm cocoons have a high natural viability rate. This research will also determine the hatching success rate of encapsulated earthworm cocoons in actual field conditions. APPROACH: Texas Tech University will receive four sets of 1,500 encapsulated earthworm cocoons in four consecutive weeks. Each set will be broken into five subsets of 300 encapsulated cocoons each. A total of 20 subsets. Each week a set of 300 will be tested for viability at weeks 5, 9, 13, 17, and 21 from time of collection, respectively. Since viability testing at each four-week period is repeated four times, a measure of confidence can be gained from the results. Texas Tech personnel will remove encapsulation material by soaking the encapsulated cocoons in distilled water and gently washing away the clay material. The cocoons will then be placed in a climate controlled hatching environment. A series of 20 overlapping tests will run exactly twelve weeks each. A baseline for cocoon viability will be preformed at Advanced Biotechnology Inc. If all earthworm cocoons have a x% survival rate immediately after collection before encapsulation, survival rates on encapsulated cocoons should be less than or equal to x%. In-ground viability tests will be performed in east central Illinois, the location of ABI, during planting season in early to late May. Within the field, tests will be set up in a randomized complete block with three replications. The field will be subdivided into 1 foot x 1 foot subplots within 3 x 3 foot plots, in a no tillage system and four inoculation rates: High rates to equal one million encapsulated earthworm cocoons or 22.96 cocoons per square foot. Medium rates to equal five hundred thousand encapsulated earthworm cocoons or 11.48 cocoons per square foot. Low rates to equal two hundred and fifty thousand encapsulated earthworm cocoons per acre or 5.74 cocoons per square foot
