Bokashi is a generic Japanese word for "fermented organic matter".  Eco Organics ferments a large range of organic materials, such as grains, animal manures and vegetable materials, to produce different varieties of bokashi for different applications.

The bokashi used in our Bokashi Recycling Systems is crushed Australian grain (usually barley, wheat and/or rice mixture) fermented with our beneficial microbes and molasses.  This material has a moderate nutrient value on its own, but is also teeming with billions of beneficial microbes which go straight to work when in contact with organic material, such as the food scraps in the bokashi bins, or the organic matter within the soil. 

The microbes work in an anaerobic environment - i.e. with no Oxygen - so they don't produce heat or odours, there is no leachate problem, and no insects or rodents either.

Bokashi can be used for:

• recycling waste (see Foodwaste Recycling Systems);
• controlling natural odours;
• conditioning soil;
• septic tanks - increasing activity and clearing blocks;
• treating animal droppings;
• addition to potting soils and mixes, and seedraising mixes;
• accelerating existing compost heaps and bins;
• adding to worm farms;
• farming and horticulture.

What is Eco Bokashi Fermentation, and why is it so much better than composting?  Fermentation is a process of treating organic waste which uses anaerobic microbes, rather than aerobic microbes.  It is similar to the process of pickling - a pickled onion for example still looks like an onion, although inside it has changed completely. The advantages of this process are many, including reduced greenhouse gas emission, a more nutritious end-product, and far easier management.  A comparison of the two processes is as follows:

Composting Eco Bokashi Fermenting       Can produce foul odours Sweet-smelling, or odourless Can attract rodents No rodents Can attract flies and other insects Does not attract any insects, including flies Produces heat Produces no heat, all energy retained Requires mechanical and labour input Done in-vessel and requires no turning Produces significant amounts of greenhouse gases Produces minimal greenhouse gases Biomass is reduced by up approx 50% Biomass is reduced by less than 10% Takes up to 6 months to produce Takes about 4 weeks to produce Is unstable and reactive until complete Is stable and storable immediately Many nutrients and organic material lost in heating process All nutrients, organic material and microbes retained. Wastes leachate which can become an environmental hazard Leachate is re-used, all nutrients retained Some products are not recommended for composting ANY organic material can be fermented And because it's so much better for the environment, and produces such a superior product, Eco Organics uses fermentation to produce ALL of its fertiliser products.  Click here for more information about those products.