[Previously... Re: [SANET-MG] Beneficial Soil Microbia] The question is how to get information on IM or IMO's, Indigenous Microorganisms.
Well, there is a seminar on Indigenous Microorganisms at the Ecological Farming Conference in California, Jan. 22-25. Gil Carandang, a farmer from the Phillipines, will demonstrate some of the special cultures. http://www.eco-farm.org/efc/efc_main.html Concepts and practices on Indigenous Microorganisms, IM or IMO, originate with Han Kyu Cho and the Korean Natural Farming Association, or KNFA, going back 35 to 40 years. Yet, this knowledge has only come into English language in the last few years. There is one book in English, yet it is not available for-sale from any distributor that I can determine. Korean Natural Farming: Indigenous Microorganisms and Vital Power of Crop/Livestock Han Kyu Cho and Atsushi Koyama Korean Natural Farming Association, 1997. 172 p. Here is an address for KNFA: Korean Natural Farming Association (KNFA) 209-2 Woongok-ri, Chungan-myun Kyisan Kun, Chung cheong buk do Republic of Korea Tel: (82-43)832-8777 Fax: (82-43)832-8783 Listed in: Asian Productivity Organization // Green Productivity and Natural Farming http://www.apo-tokyo.org KNFA develops IMO's in association with specific substrates to create special cultures. The IMO's are diluted to certain concentrations and sprayed on plants, composts, and soils. fermented fruit juices -FFJ fermented plant juices FPJ fish amino acid - FAA brown rice vinegar - BRV Oriental herbal nutrients - OHN lactic acid bacteria serum - LAS Often, these special cultures are mixed together to make a complete recipe for plant pest control, to provide soluble nutrients, to provide bioactive substances, to inoculate the leaf surface with beneficial microorganisms. KNFA farming practices pay special attention to soil management, cover crops, and organic mulches. IMO's are directed at critical stages of the plant growth, to enhance and facilitate physiology and microbiology. Very little on IMO's exists on the web, as well. Here is one article to gain insight: Indigenous Micro-organisms Put to Work The Seed Saver's Network http://www.genevar.com.au/seedsavers/resources/10.html Here is a web document from a Korean company, a .doc download, that points to commercial equipment for the production of fermented biofertilizers with IMO's in the KNFA tradition. It contains useful background information on KNFA, IMO's, microbial processes, and microbial benefits. It contains photos in an educational series that show the production steps and processes. Bio Plant of Indigenous Microorganism Developed by... Natural Farming Institute Manufactured by... H-Tec Co., Ltd http://www.htech-fa.co.kr/english/env/images/infoeng.doc Interestingly, EM in Japan does something very similar. The equipment featured here may be the same. Over 1 million Japanese households collect food scraps in the EM bokashi buckets. Trucks come by every once in a while to pick up the "pickled" bokashi-treated food waste. The bokashi food-waste material is taken to farms and composted. And, the bokashi food-waste material is taken to these biofertilizer plants which run the material through bioprocessing equipment that integrates (as best I can surmise): bokashi food-waste + rice bran biomass + molasses + EM microbes + heat treatment + fermentation process that results in a ready-to-use, pelletized organic fertilizer for use on commerical on organic farms. Web research on Korean-language websites -- to locate IMO material on the web -- included digging through Korean characters to find English-language resources. That's how I found the following chapter from Korea Organic Farming Association, which offers complimentary notes on organic farming, composting, fermentation, beneficial microorganisms, and special-culture microbial-inoculants. The Technics and Management of Organic Farming Korea Organic Farming Association http://www.organic.or.kr/whatis/what6.php Similarly, web research found these items at Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, Dan Kook University, Republic of Korea. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Dan Kook University, Republic of Korea http://www.anseo.dankook.ac.kr/~ecnet/ Chemical Characteristics of Soil and NO3- Accumulation of Vegetable by Conventional and Organic farming in Korea College of Agriculture, Dan Kook University, Republic of Korea http://www.anseo.dankook.ac.kr/%7Eecnet/serve/base9.html Development, Current Issues and Prospects of Organic Agriculture Movement in Korea College of Agriculture, Dan Kook University, Republic of Korea http://www.anseo.dankook.ac.kr/%7Eecnet/serve/base7.html If you look at EM practices, you can see that Kyusei Nature Farming + EM practices from Japan does something very similar to KNFA + IM from Korea -- interestingly -- and that is get beneficial microbes in touch with organic substrates and let microbiology work over the organic amendments and raw materials to transform the biomass into a fermented biofertilizer or compost or special culture, or, remediate something like raw manure sitting in a pile to prevent putrefaction. And, to label these special cultures so it creates a systematic approach to treatment of organic wastes and biomass, preparation methods and microbial integration, and biofertilizer + microbial inoculation usage methods, all at the same time. EM recipes at Lindros, South Africa http://www.lindros.co.za/effective_microorganisms.htm Keep in mind, as I mentioned earlier on SANET, the special cultures in biodynamics -- Horn Manure, CPP, Liquid Manures and Herbal Teas -- does pretty much the same thing; get beneficial microbes in touch with an organic substrate and let microbes grow and flourish and transform and extract. Thus, by using local herbs, garden plants, and fruits you can make BD-Liquid Manure, EM-Fermented Plant Extracts, or IM-FFJ, IM-FPJ, and IM-OHN. You can see that a pattern emerges. Farmers use local biomass sources in association with local beneficial microorganisms or brought-in microbial inoculants -- sometimes with microbial food sources and catalysts such as molasses or raw sugar -- to allow Nature to work over the materials and develop biofertilzers, disease and pest suppressive foliar brews, and soil and compost inoculants. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Related Resources: The Food & Fertilizer Technology Center, an Information Center for Farmers in the Asia Pacific Region, located in Tawain, has an excellent library with two complimentary documents on microbial fertilizers and inoculants.... including recipe for bokashi (fermented organic matter). http://www.agnet.org/library/ Use of Microbial Inoculants and Organic Fertilizers in Agricultural Production J.F. Parr, S.B. Hornick, and D.D. Kaufman ABSTRACT: http://www.agnet.org/library/abstract/eb394.html HTML: http://www.agnet.org/library/article/eb394.html PDF | 15-pages: http://www.agnet.org/library/data/eb/eb394/eb394.pdf Microbial Fertilizers in Japan Michinori Nishio ABSTRACT: http://www.agnet.org/library/abstract/eb430.html HTML: http://www.agnet.org/library/article/eb430.html PDF | 12-pages: http://www.agnet.org/library/data/eb/eb430/eb430.pdf ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Since IM and EM deal with fermentation, it is helpful to look at fermentation technology and microbiology; organisms; microbial growth factors; yeast; bacteria. Here's a document from FAO. Fermented Fruits and Vegetables: A Global Perspective FAO Agricultural Services Bulletin No. 134 http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0560e/x0560e00.htm LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Fermented foods from around the world Table 2.2 Microorganisms commonly found in fermentig fruit and vegetables Table 2.3 Water activity for microbial reactions Table 2.4 Classification of bacteria according to temperature requirements Table 5.1 Major lactic acid bacteria in fermented plant products ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Biotechnology, Second, Completely Revised Edition, Volume 9 Enzymes, Biomass, Food and Feed Biotechnology 2nd Edition Reed, Gerald / Nagodawithana, T. W. (eds.). 1995. 804 p. ISBN 3-527-28319-6 -Wiley-VCH, Weinheim http://www.wiley-vch.de/publish/en/books/ Indigenous Fermented Foods Larry R. Beuchat http://www.wiley-vch.de/books/biotech/pdf/v09indig.pdf ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The History of Kimchi http://www.korea.net/koreanculture/kimchi/kimchi_2.html The Scientific Nature and Nutritional Aspects of Kimchi http://www.korea.net/koreanculture/kimchi/kimchi_4.html ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Medina, the microbial inoculant / soil activator developed by James Martin in Texas, has an interesting history. Here is a web item that describes this process, and how one NGO is seeking further information on development of special cultures based on local biomass + local microbes. Need for guidance in researching microbe catalyst for enhanced crop yields http://www.treesforlife.org/soilcond/Default.htm Trees for Life ||| Soil Regeneration through microbe catalyst "In the 1950s, Mr. James Martin [developer of Medina Soil Activator] discovered that a fermented mixture of sea water, cow dung and yeast stimulates microbes that exist in nature to multiply at about one thousand times the normal rate." "Martin believed that plankton in sea water, when fermented with dung from lactating cows and yeast, may produce enzymes that helped create the explosion of life on Earth some 3,000 million years ago, when the Earth was surrounded by ammonia, methane and water." Medina Agriculture Products Co. http://www.medinaag.com/ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you follow Compost Teas and EM and IM and BD, as well as Organic Farming in general, you will notice that many of the soil and foliar practices effect the rhizosphere and the phyllosphere, those rich zones of biological activity on the root and leaf surfaces. A lot is known about rhizospheric organisms and the rhizosphere. Yet, here is a paper on phyllospheric organisms, and how these endophytic organisms can help promote plant growth and achieve biological control of diseases AND insects on the leaf surface. Endophytic Microorganisms: A Review on Insect Control and Recent Advances on Tropical Plants Electronic Journal of Biotechnology Vol.3 No.1, Issue of April 15, 2000 http://www.ejb.org/content/vol3/issue1/full/4/index.html Well, I had promised several people to post resources on IM + KNFA, so here they are. Best regards, Steve Diver For the earlier SANET discussion on EM + IM, see: Re: Beneficial Soil Microbia Fri, 13 Dec 2002 http://lists.ifas.ufl.edu/cgi-bin/wa.exe?A2=ind0212&L=sanet-mg&O=A&P=10020 RiverValley wrote: > Hi Steve, > > Do you know where we can do for more info on IM. > > thanks, > daniel