How to Cultivate Indigenous Microorganisms

Hoon Park and Michael W. DuPonte, June, 2010. College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawai'i

Past trends in conventional western agriculture, including monoculture without crop rotation, overuse of inorganic fertilizers, and wide-scale applications of broad-spectrum organophosphate pesticides, have hindered the role of naturally occurring microorganisms in promoting biological nitrogen fixation and decomposition of organic matter, microbiologically enhanced plant nutrient uptake, and other natural soil processes that depend on active soil microbe populations.

The current trend in U.S. agriculture, including Hawai‘i agriculture, is toward less chemically intensive, more biologically based practices, in the hope that they may improve soil health and agricultural production and be less harmful to the environment than conventional agricultural production methods. In Asian countries, including Korea, deliberate collection and culturing of naturally occurring soil microorganisms has been a common agricultural practice for centuries, and application of these cultures to crop soils is believed to minimize the need for applications of inorganic soil amendments. However, little scientific documentation of the benefits of these practices exists. This publication outlines the principal steps in culturing naturally occurring microorganisms in a process similar to one used on farms in Korea. Those wishing to culture and utilize microorganisms in this way should be aware that the value of the techniques and applications described has not been verified in Hawai‘i by controlled experiments. Therefore, the practices described in this publication should be considered as suggested, rather than recommended.