BACKGROUND ON EM
Background on EM
- Prelude to Discovery
- The Combination
- The Three Key Groups
- The Dominant Types
- Fields of Application
- Lactic-Yeast Fermentation
Prelude to Discovery
In the 1960's, Teruo Higa (now professor emeritus of the University of the Ryukyus, College of Agriculture, and currently professor at Meio University, Okinawa, Japan), suffered the ill-effects of exposure to agricultural chemicals while pursuing to promote modern agriculture in Japan. That sent him on a 20-year search for a safer and effective alternative to the use of chemicals.
The Combination
Learning that another professor had successfully grown tangerines with bacteria, Higa researched into microorganisms. In order to avoid safety issues, he only investigated naturally existing, non-toxic, non-pathogenic, and non-genetically modified microbes. After studying each microbe, he discarded them into the same disposal container. One time, in 1982, before going away for a few weeks, he poured the liquid contents onto a patch of grass since it did not contain anything harmful in it. When he came back, he noticed that that area had grown lush green compared to the surroundings. Confirming that no one else had done anything there, looking back at the steps he took, he realized that it must be the combination of microorganisms. He found that microorganisms acted and functioned differently when in combination than when only among their own kind.
The Three Key Groups
Higa had over 80 species of microorganisms, but he recognized that he needed microbes from three different groups in order to achieve a certain level of effectiveness. The three groups are lactic acid bacteria (same as those found in yogurt, cheese, sauerkraut), yeast (same as baker's yeast and brewer's yeast), and phototrophic bacteria (naturally found in soil, water, as well as in earthworm castings). He needed to call this combination of microbes by a name, so he called them Effective Microorganisms, or EM. See separate sheet on the actual species of microorganisms that are in EM-1 in the U.S. version.
The Dominant Types
Over time, he narrowed down the number of species to within a dozen or so discovering that by having the dominant types in each group, other beneficial microbes, but not of the dominant sort, could be recruited from the environment. For example, Lactobacillus casei, which is in EM, complements the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus, which need not be added to EM.
Fields of Application
EM was originally used to improve the soil microbial life--the healthier the soil, the healthier the plant growth. However, the application of EM quickly spread to other areas: animal husbandry, environmental applications, industrial and health applications. Farmers had actually used fermented organic matter (in Japanese, "bokashi") as fertilizer since the 1800's or perhaps earlier, and EM now gave them a way to more easily and consistently ferment organic matter (EM Bokashi = organic matter fermented with EM). EM Bokashi added to animal feed saw various benefits to the animal, as well as, reduced operating costs. Effluent from the animal sheds started to have positive effects on the adjacent waterways. As people saw a pattern, namely the fermentation results and effects due to EM, applications spread from agricultural and environmental, to industrial waste and health related applications (hint: the average human body harbors about 100 trillion microbes; we need microbes to help us digest, among many other things). Also, EM Bokashi became the fermentation starter to ferment food waste as a way to convert it to a fermented organic fertilizer or a soil amendment (to learn more about fermenting food waste with bokashi, see recyclefoodwaste.org).
Lactic-Yeast Fermentation
(Not Methane Fermentation)
There are different kinds of fermentation. For example, the type of fermentation that occurs in anaerobic digesters is a methane fermentation, as well as, being an anaerobic putrefaction. The results are methane, which can be used as an energy source, but the process also produces other gases which has to be filtered, liquid and solid waste which have to be treated before disposal or application for other purposes. In EM, the anaerobic microorganisms are different. Since the microbes in EM are the same as those found in many fermented foods and beverages, we get antioxidants, which, for example, help in naturally preserving foods, organic acids, which deals with pathogens among other things (one reason the bokashi method of recycling food waste can take all food waste, including meats), and enzymes, including coenzymes and bacteriocins (which are anti-pathogens), which break down materials, chemicals, toxins, and pollutants (another reason all food waste, including meats can be recycled).