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Re: [SANET-MG] aerobic bokashi



When you add in all the materials typically added in bokashi (which were mentioned in the original post), and do not turn or mix except once a week, the resulting material will go anaerobic, because of the rapid growth of the microbes in the organic food resources added.
 
It is not possible that the mix described could stay aerobic, unless the material was put in a refrigerator, or kept at very low temperatures to reduce microbial growth. 
 
Bokashi is produced by an anaerobic process.  Protozoa, the beneficial fungi and the beneficial nematodes will be lost as soon as the material becomes anaerobic. 
 
Does that mean there is no benefit of using bokashi, or ferments, or anaerobic materials as part of a soil program?  Please, I have never said that there was no benefit.
 
But, if you say there is a benefit, then explain exactly what benefit there is, and how that can be reliably repeated time after time. 
 
Lactobacillus, proprionic acid-producing bacteria and other facultative anaerobic bacteria, and some actinobacteria and yeasts typically found in bokashi can do some very interesting things.  But they cannot do all the things a full foodweb set of organisms will do for plants.  Don't ask bokashi to do everything and don't make claims that these organisms can do all the things aerobic soil organisms can do.
 
Can bokashi organisms start moving soil in the right direction?  Sure they can, especially if they start suppressing disease organisms, and begin the process of building soil structure, and leaving behind some organic matter. 
 
But they cannot give all the things a good healthy set of aerobic organisms, the full foodweb of organisms, give to a plant. 
 
Elaine Ingham
President, Soil Foodweb Inc.
 
In a message dated 9/4/2005 8:52:43 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, heidehermary@PACIFICCOAST.NET writes:
Adriana, I can you tell us how this bokashi worked for the farmers? Also
where did you obtain the mature bokashi to put into the mix, or can it
be substituted with EM inoculant? I'm also curious about the reason for
adding the charcoal.
Thanks, Heide

Adriana Kürten wrote:

>Hi,
>
>To summarise the story, if you’ve worked with (aerobic) bokashi, I would
>really appreciate to get some feedback. I’ll tell a bit of the background
>story and then explain my doubts.
>
>Last year I worked with small producers in Bolivia where we carried out on-
>farm trials using bokashi. Farmers in the region are very much embedded in
>what could be called a ‘chemical paradigm’ and did not think twice before
>using whatsoever agrochemicals they could find in the local shops. For the
>fertilizers, the use of pure NPK 18-46-0 was quite common. Farmers in the
>region are very poor, most of them illiterate and highly indebted to the
>local shop owners. The project was very broad and dealt with the human
>capital in agriculture as well. The trials carried out together with
>farmers aimed in part to check whether bokashi would be a viable
>alternative in the local context.
>
>The recipe we used to prepare bokashi was adapted from an IICA publication
>(1) in Spanish. The components used were: 100 kg of soil, 100 kg of fresh
>cow manure, 100 kg of rice bran, 50 kg of ground charcoal, 20 kg of rice
>hull, 5 kg of ashes, 5 kg of mature bokashi, 1 kg of molasses, 250 g of
>yeast and water. All components were mixed homogeneously while water was
>added to the mixture. The heaps were turned twice and then once a day
>until the temperature stabilized. The composts were considered ready to
>use after 20 or 21 days.
>
>It goes without saying that we tried to use as much as possible what was
>locally available and at the lowest possible cost. It would be completely
>out of out of touch with the local reality to use a commercial inoculant
>there.
>
>The project is now over and I’m trying to figure out what happens in
>bokashi production. As far as I’ve seen, there’s not much about (aerobic)
>bokashi in scientific publications while there’s quite a lot about it on
>the net but almost everything is about what is sold on the market such as
>EM inoculants and the like.
>
>I’ve seen that, some sources refer to ‘bokashi’ as a biofermented
>fertilizer. As far as I remember from chemistry courses a long way back,
>fermentation is an anaerobic process. Or can it be aerobic as well? The
>production of the compost itself is an aerobic process so maybe bokashi is
>called ‘fermented organic matter’ because Japanese farmers, who
>first ‘discovered’ it, made first a fermented anaerobic inoculant which
>was then added to the substrate mixture? Have you got a better clue on why
>bokashi is called a fermented organic fertilizer?
>
>Microorganisms exist everywhere. In this case I reckon the soil, the
>manure, mature bokashi and the yeast will mainly provide the
>microorganisms which will mineralize N from the composted material and
>also enhance availability of other plant nutrients. The molasses here will
>provide the ‘energy’ or feedstock for microorganisms boosting their
>growth. Looking back, what we did was to get the microorganisms we wanted
>to do the job in contact with a substrate which we wanted to be decomposed
>(mineralized) at the same time that we provided something that made the
>microorganisms multiply much faster. From what I’ve experienced, there is
>indeed no need to buy a special inoculant. If you’ve been working with
>(aerobic) bokashi what is your experience on that?
>
>Apart from comments, articles or internet links shedding some light on it
>would be very much appreciated.
>
>Adriana
>
>----------------------------
>(1) Restrepo, J. R., 2001, Elaboración de abonos orgánicos fermentados y
>biofertilizantes foliares: experiencias con agricultores en Mesoamérica y
>Brasil, IICA, San José, Costa Rica.
>
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>

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Elaine R. Ingham
Soil Foodweb Inc., Corvallis, Oregon
Soil Foodweb Inc., Port Jefferson, New York
Soil Foodweb Institute, Lismore Australia
Soil Foodweb Institute Cambridge, New Zealand
Laboratorios de Soil Foodweb, Culiacan, Mexico
Soil Foodweb Inc., Jerome, Idaho
Soil Foodweb Inc., South Africa
Soil Foodweb Canada, Vulcan, Alberta, Canada

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