What is the Jadam Method? 【Complete Guide】

We recently discovered this form of organic agriculture : the Jadam Method , and we could not miss the opportunity to make this ecological and environmentally friendly farming method known at Agrohuerto .

In today’s post we will see what the Jadam method is and what its main techniques and natural preparations are. Like other agroecological trends , such as natural agriculture or permaculture , the Jadam method pursues self-sufficient agriculture , which minimizes costs, eliminates the use of chemicals and respects natural cycles.

What is the Jadam method and how did it come about

It is a type of organic farming that was created in South Korea in the 1990s by a farmer and horticultural chemist named Youngsang Cho .

The Jadam Method is based on traditional Korean agriculture , thousands of years old, and the cultivation method called Natural Farming , a type of organic farming very popular in Asia and devised in the 60s by Hankyu Cho, the father of Youngsang Cho.

Its name is an abbreviation of the words Jayonul Damun Saramdul , which mean «people who love nature» and, as such, this type of organic agriculture seeks to conserve the soil, respect natural cycles and not force biological cycles or alter the environment. environment surrounding crops.

The Jadam techniques have been disseminated by the JADAM Organic Farming group (founded and directed by the creator of the method) through seminars, books and its website. Its creator has not wanted to patent any of the ecological preparations and techniques on which Jadam-type agriculture is based , opening to the public and sharing directly with farmers all his discoveries about natural products that are beneficial for crop growth .

Advantages of the Jadam Method

• It is an environmentally friendly method that dispenses with synthetic chemicals.
• Increases the productivity of crops thanks to the application of fortifying preparations and beneficial microorganisms.
• Low cost . It is the cheapest organic farming method , since most of the inputs can be manufactured by the farmer with recycled materials and natural elements, much cheaper.
• For easy application . For its implementation and the preparation of natural preparations, no technical knowledge is required.
• The foods produced with this method are recognized with the organic farming seal in some countries such as the USA.
• Very versatile. Applicable both in subsistence family farming areas and large plantations.

Practices and principles of the Jadam method

These are some of the most important principles of this type of organic farming (which differs in some respects from Western organic farming):

• Like Fukuoka Natural Agriculture , the Jadam method defends that weeds are not such. The spontaneous vegetation that grows around the crops should not be eliminated with herbicides or physical methods such as weeding, but only controlled, since these help to maintain the beneficial microorganisms in the soil.
• Use of mulching or mulching to control weeds, maintain moisture, beneficial microbiota and reduce soil compaction and the presence of salts.
• Biodiversity as a defense. Faced with the implantation of monoculture, Jadam agriculture defends the association of crops , a technique that allows us to maintain biodiversity and take advantage of the allelopathic effects of some plants, which reduces the incidence of pests. (On the contrary, he rejects the practice of crop rotation, a basic technique in western organic farming.)
• Direct use of uncomposted crop residues as natural fertilizer. The crop remains are chopped up and buried in the soil, where they will gradually decompose and provide the substrate with an organic fertilizer rich in organic matter and beneficial microorganisms.
• Hard water correction. Use of a homemade preparation to soften hard water that reduces its salinity and makes it ideal for the preparation of Jadam insecticides.
• Preparation and application of different types of Jadam preparations for the fertilization of the soil, the fight against pests and diseases or the fortification of crops.

Preparation of Jadam preparations

One of the foundations of the Jadam ecological method is the manufacture and application of natural preparations for the correct development of crops and for the treatment of pests and diseases.

Some of these organic preparations of the Jadam method are:

• Microbial preparations for the biological fight against pests .
• Liquid fertilizers and biopesticides or natural insecticides made with more than 100 types of plants.
• Biostimulants made from microorganisms and plant extracts , such as the beneficial microorganism preparation made with water, forest mulch and potato.
• Jadam Liquid Sulfur , a broad spectrum fungicide that can be made at home.
• Jadam wetting agents to facilitate the application of natural pesticides .
• Special preparations for specific crops such as rice, citrus or tobacco.

In the following video (with Spanish subtitles), the forerunner of the Jadam Method explains step by step how to cultivate beneficial microorganisms for the soil and crops at home.