Em On Rice Paddy ?

[importford]

We own a big fish pond: 100 meter x 50 meter

We bought next to this fish pond 6 rai.

The six rai has always been used for the cultivation of Tapioca.

We want to start planting rice on this land because we have all the water available now.

The ground seems rather poor after all these years.

1) Can I mix EM in the water when I flood the rice paddies??? before we trill the land.

2) Can I try to get three harvest of rice (100 day rice) because we have all the water available for irrigation and no risks of flooding.

3) What kind of fertilizer and how many do I have to use per rai for three harvest of rice in one year??

[jandtaa]

hi importford

Yeah sure you can use EM on rice paddy. It is used as an organic weed management tool as the micro-organisms break seed dormancy and promote weed growth this growth is then ploughed in. I'll flick through my literature and post dilution rates and timings of application and post when I get a chance. I'm in the process of extending some EM at the moment and I know I saw the info in one of my printouts when I was checking recipes. Three crops a year on poor soil ? Probably not, personally I'd rotate using a short DTF leguminous crop as a green manure and maybe corn at least in the early days until you have built up soil fertility. as to fertiliser... well if you're wanting to use EM I guess you're looking at organic although maybe you just want to avoid the use of herbicides. Thats gonna take time but addition of plenty of organic matter, compost,bio-char and the use of green manures will all help.

cheers for now J   

[importford]

hi importford

Yeah sure you can use EM on rice paddy. It is used as an organic weed management tool as the micro-organisms break seed dormancy and promote weed growth this growth is then ploughed in. I'll flick through my literature and post dilution rates and timings of application and post when I get a chance. I'm in the process of extending some EM at the moment and I know I saw the info in one of my printouts when I was checking recipes. Three crops a year on poor soil ? Probably not, personally I'd rotate using a short DTF leguminous crop as a green manure and maybe corn at least in the early days until you have built up soil fertility. as to fertiliser... well if you're wanting to use EM I guess you're looking at organic although maybe you just want to avoid the use of herbicides. Thats gonna take time but addition of plenty of organic matter, compost,bio-char and the use of green manures will all help.

cheers for now J   

Thanks Ja,

I talked today with an older farmer next to us.

He told me that if I mix the EM with the flooding water,

I will have later less termites and snails because the micro organism will try to attack the termites, ants and snails.

is this possible or is it just some wild local rumor???

[jandtaa]

Local rumour I fear.

The micro-organisms in Em are yeasts,lactic acid bacteria,bacillus and oxigenic photosynthetic bacteria none of these have an effect on insect pests that I am aware of. EM can be used to ferment out plants such as ginger, lemongrass and chilli to make an organic pesticide but I use boric acid for the ants and the wife gets some herbal "stuff" which is used on ripe papaya to bait the snails.

J

[wichianburi1]

Local rumour I fear.

The micro-organisms in Em are yeasts,lactic acid bacteria,bacillus and oxigenic photosynthetic bacteria none of these have an effect on insect pests that I am aware of. EM can be used to ferment out plants such as ginger, lemongrass and chilli to make an organic pesticide but I use boric acid for the ants and the wife gets some herbal "stuff" which is used on ripe papaya to bait the snails.

J

Sorry for going off this topic but I would appreciate it very much if one could direct me to the EM farm located in Saraburi. I believe it was opened by a Japanese Professor some 12 years ago. During a recent trip to Europe I learned that EM is also sold as alternative health product. Anybody who can give me directions how to find the farm when driving from BKK to Saraburi?

Thanks for any assistance.

[thaidrav]

For us newbees, what is EM?

[soundman]

For us newbees, what is EM?

Effective Micro-organism.