1. Introduction
Agriculture is sustained nowadays by means of intensive use
of agrochemicals in order to preserve soil quality and to obtain
high yields. Meanwhile, the international market increasingly
requires natural or organic food, free of chemical residues. As a
result, alternative agricultural systems such as the use of benefi-
cial microorganisms are being developed with the aim to improve
and maintain soil quality. Among such microorganisms is the fungi
genus Trichoderma. Several strains of Trichoderma have been developed
as biocontrol agents against fungal diseases of plants [1]. The
use of Effective microorganisms (EM) is done on a smaller scale.
Dr Teruo Higa, an horticulture professor at the University of
Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan discovered and developed the EM technology
[2]. EM is a mixed consortium of beneficial microorganisms
of natural occurrence (lactic bacteria, yeast and photosynthetic
bacteria, among others) that can be applied as an inoculant to
increase the microbial biodiversity of soils and plants [3]. EM is
not a substitute for other cultural practices; it is an additional
tool to optimize the best practices of soil and crop handling such
as crop rotation, utilization of organic amendments, conservation
tillage, recycling of harvest residues and pest biocontrol. If used in