"Life in the Soil" is available for about $10 through Nature
Farming Research and Development Foundation (NFRDC) in
Lompoc, California. As of Friday 10-25-96 NFRDC was out of
copies of the video but was expecting to get more in
November or soon thereafter. Contact:
Nature Farming Research and Development Foundation
6495 Santa Rosa Rd.
Lompoc, CA 93436
Tel: 805-737-1536
Fax: 805-736-9599
Nature Farming parallels organic farming in many ways. Both
systems advocate soil quality a the fundamental basis for
healthy crops and healthy people. The word "kyusei" in Kyusei
Nature Farming means "saving" in Japanese, and broadly
interpreted Kyusei Nature Farming means saving the world
through natural or organic farming methods.
Since the mid-1980s Kyusei Nature Farming has gained wider
recognition for its innovative use of microbial preparations
known as Effective Microorganisms, or EM. EM was developed
by Dr. Teruo Higa, a research horticulturist at the
University of Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. EM technology is
closely associated with microbial inoculation of green
manures, composts, kitchen garbage waste-compost, and
irrigation water.
Interestingly, there are three biologically-based farming
systems sharing an emphasis on microbial inoculation of
composts and green manures (at ploughdown as opposed to seed
inoculation): (1) Nature Farming, (2) Biodynamic Farming,
and (2) the Luebke system of Humus Management and Controlled
Microbial Composting.
EM preparations are available through EM Technologies in
the United States.
EM Technologies
1802 W. Grant Rd. (#122)
Tucson, AZ 85745
520-629-9301
The whole topic of Nature Farming and Effective
Microorganisms should be of interest to any person engaged
in sustainable agriculture for its contributions to the
advancement of knowledge associated with natural/organic
cropping systems and EM technology around the world.
Among the most informative publications on Nature Farming
are the Proceedings of the First and Second International
Conferences on Kyusei Nature Farming, which are available
for about $5.00 each through NFRDC in Lompoc, CA.
Proceedings from the 3rd conference will be available in
November.
The NFRDC is located at NaturFarm in Lompoc, CA. NaturFarm
is a commercial organic vegetable farm recognized for its
innovative practices such as permanent wide-row (80-inch)
vegetable beds, EM technology, mechanical spading implement
for soil tillage, and pest control habitat strips to attract
beneficial insects and subsequent reliance on biological
pest control.
In addition to microbial inoculation to enhance organic
amendment-based production systems, the three biologically-based
farming systems mentioned above are also trend setters for
the adoption of new and unique soil quality evaluation
procedures such as circular chromatography, sensitive
crystallization, potential pH, and humus value; these methods
are often combined with standard laboratory soil tests as
well as field measurements such as those associated with the
U.S.D.A./Rodale Soil Health Test Kit which measures bulk density,
soil respiration, and other parameters. Included is a soil
penetrometer to measure the condition of soils in a spectrum from
compaction to good soil tilth.
Steve Diver
ATTRA - Sustainable Farming Information