Masanobu Fukuoka
Masanobu Fukuoka
Masanobu Fukuokawas a Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his natural farming and re-vegetation of desertified lands. He was a proponent of no-till, no-herbicide grain cultivation farming methods traditional to many indigenous cultures, from which he created a particular method of farming, commonly referred to as "Natural Farming" or "Do-nothing Farming"...
NationalityJapanese
ProfessionCelebrity
Date of Birth2 February 1913
CountryJapan
mistake thinking discovery
One of the most important discoveries I made in those early years was that to succeed at natural farming, you have to get rid of your expectations. Such "products" of the mind are often incorrect or unrealistic . . . and can lead you to think you've made a mistake if they're not met.
heart desert saving
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.
dream heart people
My ultimate dream is to sow seeds in the desert. To revegetate the deserts is to sow seed in people's hearts.
irony shows humans
The irony is that science has served only to show how small human knowledge is.
research philosopher should
Before researchers become researches they should become philosophers.
mistake thinking doe
Of course, I have made mistakes . . . just as every grower does. However, I never really think of them as mistakes!
spiritual practice deep-understanding
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.
practice farming natural
Natural farming is just farming, nothing more. You don't have to be a spiritually oriented person to practice my methods.
tree green way
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!
war caring hands
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.
mistake fields doe
If a farmer does abandon his or her "tame" fields completely to nature, mistakes and destruction are inevitable.
weed white fields
Straw mulch, a ground cover of white clover interplanted with the crops, and temporary flooding all provide effective weed control in my fields.
disease fields problem
Since I turned the fields back to their natural state, I can't say I've had any really difficult problems with insects or disease.
vegetables orange meditation
Speaking biologically, fruit in a slightly shriveled state is holding its respiration and energy consumption down to the lowest possible level. It is like a person in meditation: his metabolism, respiration, and calorie consumption reach an extremely low level. Even if he fasts, the energy within the body will be conserved. In the same way, when mandarin oranges grow wrinkled, when fruit shrivels, when vegetables wilt, they are in the state that will preserve their food value for the longest possible time.