Miss Goh, our instructor from Hanwo Bio-Tech was explaining meticulously the concept of EM Composting to the attentive students. EM is a mixed culture of beneficial and natural micro-organisms mostly found in food. It is made up of 3 main genera : phototrophic bacteria, Lactic acid bacteria and yeast. 
Yeast : Fermented organic substance containing vitamins and amino acids. They are used for making bread, beer and wine.
Lactic acid bacteria : Fermented organic matter producing organic acids that inhibit pathogens. They are used for making yogurt and pickles.
Phototrophic bacteria (Photosynthetic bacteria) : Work as a key component in EM. They help maintain the balance with the other beneficial micro-organisms, allowing them to co-exist and work together.
Tony, Oh' Farms' instructor, taught the class how to make use of the fermented garbage to plant balsam. If cultivated correctly, the flowers will bloom during the Teacher's Day. This will definitely make an excellent gift for all teachers.
"Mix the fermented garbage in the ration of 1 : 2 portion of garden soil. After mixing, 1/2 fill the pot. Top up with garden soil till the brim. Sow 3 balsam seeds. Lightly cover the seeds with a layer of soil. Water the plant daily."
Students were encouraged to collect garbage waste to try the composting process.
"Break down all the garbage into smaller pieces. Things like fruit peels, food scrap, weeds and even wood chips can be used. Things like rubber, styrofoam, plastic and metals cannot be used in the composting process."
"Smells good..."
After mixing the garbage with bokashi, it is poured into the composting bin.
The bin will be left untouched for a month for the fermentation process to take place.
After 1 week, the garbage juice must be drained off. The juice can be diluted to be used as fertilizer for plants.
At the end of the course, a quiz sessionwas conducted by Tony. 
Beautifully designed butterfly postcards were given out as gifts for students who could answer correctly.
EM technology was developed over 20 years ago by Dr. Teruo Higa, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. It is being used in more than 50 countries around the world and is applied not only to enhance sustainable agriculture, but also in other fields of applications such as environmental, industrial and health.In this EM composting course, the students were encouraged to recycle garbage materials like food waste (e.g. fruit peels) and garden waste (e.g. weed). A switch of mindset - recyclables are not just old newspaper and plastic materials but food waste as well. This process of fermentation is also anaerobic which means that very little carbon dioxide is given off. Thus it is environmental friendly compared to the usual composting method where carbon dioxide and methane gas are by-products as well.
Special thanks to :
1. Dr. Tan Seng Kee for providing information on EM composting,
2. Miss Goh Pei Huan for the enriching talk and collaboration.
3. Mr Lau Zi Shuo for the collaboration with us in this project.
For more information, you may email Hanwo BiO-Tech Pte Ltd:
Miss Goh @ gph@kienta.com
Dr Tan @ tsk@kienta.com
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