The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka I believe there is much we all can learn from that approach. Fukuoka interferes as little as possible with the plant and animal communities in his fields. Once he has seen to it that conditions have been tilted in favor of his crops, in other words, Mr. Fukuoka’s method of farming and conventional agriculture is that he cooperates with nature rather than attempting to “improve” or conquer her. Strictly speaking, no farming is “natural.” Agriculture is a cultural innovation that requires knowledge and persistent effort. Fukuoka soon teaches him that there is a great deal he must know and do. Fukuoka’s method and its underlying philosophy gradually became clear to me.įor instance, if the newcomer expects “natural farming” to mean that nature farms while he sits and watches, Mr. There - and in the mud-walled huts during evening discussions with other student farm workers - the details of Mr.

Fukuoka’s farm for several months on that first visit, working in the fields and in the citrus orchard. I am not quite sure what I expected, but after having heard so much about this great teacher, I was somewhat surprised to see that he was dressed in the boots and work clothes of the average Japanese farmer. Fukuoka’s farm to learn about his work for myself.

Whenever there was a lull in our work schedule, I used to travel to other parts of the country, stopping at farms and communes, working part time along the way, and on one of these excursions, I paid a visit to Mr. How could it be possible to grow high-yielding crops of rice and winter grains each year simply by scattering seed onto the surface of an unplowed field? There had to be more to it than that! We used the now-traditional “agribiz” methods of Japanese agriculture to grow rice, rye, barley, soybeans and various garden vegetables. From the Introduction by Larry Kornįor several years, I had been living with a group of friends on a farm in the mountains north of Kyoto. Masanobu Fukuoka may be one of the most farsighted and downright radical farmers in the world today! Why? Because over the past 30 years, he has gradually abandoned most conventional agricultural practices in order to return control of his land to the most skilled grower of all … Nature herself! In return - he claims - he has reaped both bumper crops and a peace that surpasses understanding.Įxcerpted with permission from The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka, copyright 1978 by Rodale Press.

The straw revolution