Back A. Primavesi
Ecological Farm, Itai, SP, Brazil
Full Paper (PDF File: 84KB)
Abstract
When effective microorganisms are applied to soil there occurs a significant
soil improvement and better yields in the first year. However, in the following
years, soil structure breaks down and the soils become very compact and
hard. EM has to be used together with organic matter to warrant success.
An experiment was covered with mulch of chipped branches at five levels
: none, 6.500, 13,500, 19.500 and 26.000 kg/ha fresh material. 1.1 liter/ha
EM was sprayed on it which corresponds to a solution of 1:200. As the season
was extremely rainy mulch broke down rapidly but the soil kept its silky
touch and porous structure. The most adequate amount of organic matter
was 13.500 kg/ha of fresh material. With less organic matter, EM improved
soil structure only in the upper layer (0-5cm). With 13.500 kg/ha soil
structure was better and yields were the highest. With more organic mater,
soil structure improved less, probably because the breakdown of organic
matter was made partially of common soil microorganisms. It was concluded
that for each milliliter EM, 12 to 14 kg of organic matter (fresh) or 3.5
to 4.0 kg of straw were needed to improve soil and yield also in further
years.