The Natural Way of Farming: Masanobu Fukuoka

In Japan there is a farmer by the name of Masanobu Fukuoka who practices what he calls the "no-plowing, no-fertilizing, no-weeding, no-pesticides, do-nothing method of natural farming". To him the idea that people can grow crops is ego-centric. Ultimately it is nature that grows crops. He sees modern agriculture as doing-this and doing-that to grow crops, but it is meaningless work. With his do-nothing method he is able to get yields in his rice fields that are equal to the highest yields attained with chemical, do-something agriculture.

What he does do, at least by my translation, is manipulate habitat to favor the crops he wants to grow. He works within the laws of ecology to tilt the ecosystem in favor of the plants he wants. Then his crops virtually invade and grow like weeds.

Fukuoka was born in 1914 and schooled in the Western sciences of microbiology and plant pathology. He worked as an agricultural customs inspector in Japan until he became gravely ill at the age of twenty-five. After his sickness he was "reborn", realizing that "human knowledge was meaningless".

Western readers may be challenged by the "no method" thought riddles Fukuoka uses throughout his books, but there are real gems of Eastern wisdom there that apply to much more than just farming. Fukuoka's do-nothing approach was one of the most significant influences on my book Direct Pointing to Real Wealth: Thomas J. Elpel's Field Guide to Money

Books related to "Do-Nothing" Farming
Unfortunately all of these books are currently out of print,
but Amazon will search for used copies.

The Natural Way of Farming by Masanobu Fukuoka
280 pages. 1985.
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The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
155 pages. Bantam Edition. March 1985.
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The Road Back to Nature: Regaining the Paradise Lost by Masanobu Fukuoka, Frederic P. Metreaud
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Links related to Masanobu Fukuoka's work
Light Writings
Greening the Desert
The Fukuoka Farming Website


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