EM or Effective Microorganisms is a consortium culture of different effective microbes commonly occurring in nature. Most important among them are: N2-fixers, P-solubilizers, photosynthetic microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria, yeasts, plant growth promoting Rhizobacteria and various fungi and Actinomycetes. In this consortium, each microorganism has its own beneficial role in nutrient cycling, plant protection and soil health and fertility enrichment.

Benefits of EM use

• Improve seed germination, seedling emergence, growth of plants, flowering, fruiting and ripening of grains and fruits.
• Improves photosynthetic potential.
• Increase tolerance in plants against pest attack.
• Improves physico-chemical and biological properties of soil.
• Help in control of soil borne pathogens.
• Interdependent biological activity of different EM organisms creates a congenial environment for growth and spread of soil's flora and fauna. They also promote the   growth and colonization of VAM, which further help in plant growth promotion.
• Help in quick degradation of organic matter. With the use of EM the requirement of compost can be reduced or dispensed with. Just recycling of crop residue with EM can give similar results as with good compost. This saves lot of labour and space required for compost preparation.
• Improves soil biota and makes the soil soft and porous

How to use EM

• Application of EM in agriculture involves four steps as follows:
• Procurement of primary EM- available in market
• Preparation of secondary EM – to be carried out by the farmer
• Appropriate dilution of the secondary EM solution
• Application to plants, soil and organic matter as spray

Preparation of secondary EM solution Depending upon the requirement and its end use, various EM formulations have been developed. Even among one formulation depending upon the place and climatic conditions some variations have been incorporated and recommended by promoting institutes and agencies. Some of the widely used and popular formulations are described below. Water used in all formulations should be either rainwater or fresh tube-well water. Tap water is not to be used.