Bokashi – One Chemicals – Nil
Compost is playing a role in helping El Salvador farmers to turn their backs on the ‘green revolution.’
It is always encouraging to read about other people’s efforts and successes in the composting world, just as it is to see evidence that composting can be a powerful agent for healing and remediation.
This report by Brad Nahill describes the state of agriculture in an area of El Salvador, where years of over-production, monoculture, and chemical use have resulted in the destruction of the soil, polluted water and a population besieged by liver problems from exposure to said chemicals. This, was the so-called ‘green revolution.’
On a trip to a local farm to participate in a volunteer work project, he and his group learned how the composting system known as Bokashi, is helping to overcome years of increasing soil degradation, just one result of the farming methods used under the influence of agribusinesses such as Monsanto and promoted by the government.
Bokashi, which originated in the East, possibly Korea, is really a method of pickling. Organic waste is fermented in an anaerobic environment with the bacteria (EM) needed for the process introduced in a mix of dried bran, molasses and water. In El Salvador, they compost local resources that have few other uses, such as sugar cane waste, rice husks and cow manure. Last year, around 50,000 pounds of compost was supplied to farmers in the community, who are now going ‘organic’, changing their methods and introducing sustainable farming techniques.
Read the article. It’s a real buzz to hear, for once, about the victory of ‘the little guys’.
Link. http://www.care2.com/causes/a-new-agricultural-revolution-takes-root-in-el-salvador.html