Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer and philosopher, known for his natural farming and re-vegetation of desertified lands. He was a proponent of no-till, no-herbicide grain cultivation farming methods. His book 'The One-Straw Revolution' has been translated into over 20 languages.
The healing of the land and the purification of the human spirit is the same process.
The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.
The final principle of natural farming is NO PESTICIDES. Nature is in perfect balance when left alone.
Left alone, the earth maintains its own fertility, in accordance with the orderly cycle of plant and animal life.
The greening of the desert means sowing seeds in people’s hearts and creating a green paradise of peace on earth.
If we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back in the door with a pitchfork.
We receive our nourishment from the Mother Earth. So we should put our hands together in an attitude of prayer and say “please” and “thank you” when dealing with nature.
There is no time in modern agriculture for a farmer to write a poem or compose a song.
The increasing desolation of nature, the exhaustion of resources, the uneasiness and disintegration of the human spirit, all have been brought about by humanity’s trying to accomplish something.
The real path to natural farming requires that a person know what unaltered nature is, so that he or she can instinctively understand what needs to be done – and what must not be done – to work in harmony with its processes.
My ultimate dream is to sow seeds in the desert. To revegetate the deserts is to sow seed in people’s hearts.
We must find our way back to true nature. We must set ourselves to the task of revitalizing the earth. Regreening the earth, sowing seeds in the desert – that is the path society must follow.
Modern research divides nature into tiny pieces and conducts tests that conform neither with natural law nor with practical experience. The results are arranged for the convenience of research, not according to the needs of the farmer.
If you do not try to make food delicious, you will find that nature has made it so.
As we kill nature, we are killing ourselves, and God incarnate as the world as well.
Gradually I came to realize that the process of saving the desert of the human heart and revegetating the actual desert is actually the same thing.
By raising tall trees for windbreaks, citrus underneath, and a green manure cover down on the surface, I have found a way to take it easy and let the orchard manage itself!
We have come to the point at which there is no other way than to bring about a ‘movement’ not to bring anything about.
Unless people can become natural people, there can be neither natural farming nor natural food.
I wonder how it is that people’s philosophies have come to spin faster than the changing seasons.
Life on a small farm might seem primitive, but by living such a life we become able to discover the Great Path. I believe that one who deeply respects his neighborhood and everyday world in which he lives will be shown the greatest of all worlds.
I started natural farming after the war with just one small plot, but gradually I acquired additional acreage by taking over surrounding pieces of abandoned land and caring for them by hand.
Natural farming is just farming, nothing more. You don’t have to be a spiritually oriented person to practice my methods.
I believe that even ‘returning-to-nature’ and anti pollution activities, no matter how commendable, are not moving toward a genuine solution if they are carried out solely in reaction to the over development of the present age.
A farmer does not grow something in the sense that he or she creates it. That human is only a small part of the whole process by which nature expresses its being.
Although natural farming – since it can teach people to cultivate a deep understanding of nature – may lead to spiritual insight, it’s not strictly a spiritual practice.
Until there is a reversal of the sense of values which cares more for size and appearance than for quality, there will be no solving the problem of food pollution.
If nature is left to itself, fertility increases. Organic remains of plants and animals accumulate and are decomposed on the surface by bacteria and fungi. With the movement of rainwater, the nutrients are taken deep into the soil to become food for microorganisms, earthworms, and other small animals. Plant roots reach to the lower soil strata and draw the nutrients back up to the surface.
Straw mulch, green manure, and cover crops are used to protect the soil from the effects of wind and rain, and to provide it with fertility in the form of organic material.