Effectiveness of EM???

Pmadden1@aol.com
Mon, 4 Nov 1996 21:17:29 -0500

TO: SANET-MG
FROM: Patrick Madden, wsaa

The recent posting by Steve Diver describes EM as "Effective" microorganisms.
The Tuesday, December 5, 1995, edition of MAINICHI DAILY NEWS in Thailand
carried the following report regarding EM, which questions its
"effectiveness."

"400 Researchers Attend Agriculture Seminar in Bangkok"

Study concludes effective microorganisms to be an inappropriate farming
resource.

About 400 leading agriculture researchers from government and educational
institutions attended a seminar Sept. 29 in Bangkok where the results of a
joint study by Kasetsart University and the Thai Ministry of Industry and
Cooperative's Department of Agriculture into effective microorganisms (EM)
and its use in farming and environment were announced.

The study results, released at the meeting at Rama Garden Hotel, concluded
that EM is inappropriate as an agricultural resource. The objective
evaluation since has attracted attention not only in Thailand but also in
Japan and other countries facing EM-related problems.

In the opening ceremony of the seminar kicked off at 9 a.m., Mr. Samrit
Chaiwannakup, director general of the Department of Agriculture, hailed the
participants, followed by a report of Dr. Yenchai Vasuvat of the department
and chief of the joint research, regarding how the study had proceeded.

The main panel discussion was launched after the opening declaration by
Professor Kamphon Adunwit, rector of Kasetsart University.

In the panel discussion attended by researchers from the team and other
specialists in the field, it was clarified that the university and the
ministry's Department of Agriculture set up the joint research team as a
reliable official body to investigate whether EM is really effective for
agricultural purposes, in response to growing interests into EM's make-up and
its producer's claims for its effectiveness.

EM has been imported into Thailand by a religious charity foundation and
distributed to farmer groups at the Kyose Natural Agricultural Training and
Propagation Center in Saraburi Province.

It was also introduced that the research team pursued four goals: 1)
Gathering information regarding EM and its utilization, and analysis of the
gathered data; 2) Determining EM's chemical, biochemical and biological
properties; 3) Examining EM's effectiveness in the agricultural field, as
fertilizer, pesticide and feed for livestock; 4) Examining EM's effectiveness
in its use for environmental protection, including its application in waste
water processing, deodorization and cleaning up of soil contaminated by
harmful substances.

In the four fields, the research team investigated a total of 39 topics,
according to the researchers.

As for the biological properties of EM, it was reported that EM does not
include photosynthesis bacteria, which its producer says plays a vital role
in making the agent effective. It was reported that EM does have several
types of microorganisms such as yeast and lactic acid bacterium.

It was also revealed that EM's use as a fertilizer does not result in an
increase in crop yields. As a compost, according to the study results, other
materials developed by the Ministry of Industry and Cooperatives have been
proved more effective than EM. In addition, due to its production
difficulties, EM does not suit for large-scale production for wider use, the
joint research team concluded.

As for its effectiveness in waste water processing, EM was not found very
useful in comparison to other processing means such as waste water pools with
local microorganisms capable of decomposing waste substances, the researchers
said.

Although EM showed some promise as a deodorizer, the evaluation is based on
researcher's sensory estimates and thus has not been scientifically
buttressed, they added.

Moreover, the study results also denied the producer's claim that EM can
serve as a catalyst in increasing the activities of other useful
microorganisms. Yet an exceptional case was reported in which use of EM at
100 and 300 parts per million levels resulted in faster growth of blue-green
algae, although the growth was delayed when the EM density was at 600 ppm.

In concluding its findings, the research team said microorganic agricultural
agents developed in Thailand are more effective, and pointed out that EM,
which is imported from a foreign environment, may cause unexpected damage.

(end of article)
************************************************
(The 50 scientific papers presented at the conference are available by snail
mail. Request from WSAALA@igc.apc.org)