Masanobu Fukuoka

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Masanobu Fukuoka

1MaureenRoy
Juin 22, 2012, 12:04 pm

Fukuoka (1913-2008) was a plant scientist who decided at the age of 25 to return to his family's farm on the Japanese island of Shikoku in order to investigate his ideas for a more natural approach to agriculture. His first book, The One-Straw Revolution became a best-seller, translated so far into 25 languages. He spent his remaining years traveling the world and teaching about sustainable farming. His other books include The Natural Way of Farming and The Road Back to Nature. His last book was posthumously published in English in 2012: Sowing Seeds in the Desert describes his global learning and teaching about how to restore the bounty of this Earth. Here is his foundation's website, with much more information on their ongoing activities:

http://www.onestrawrevolution.net/One_Straw_Revolution/One-Straw_Revolution.html

2signature103
Juin 28, 2012, 11:46 pm

And thanks for this one too.

3signature103
Juin 29, 2012, 1:46 am

Anyone actually trying his method?

4MaureenRoy
Modifié : Juil 3, 2012, 10:53 am

Yes, the Kushi Institute (a macrobiotic group) in the Berkshire mountains, Massachusetts, has been rice farming, as has several families including the Christian Elwell family, owners of South River Miso. Here is the KI website:

http://www.kushiinstitute.org/

If you do an internet search: " fukuoka rice dryland "
you will see over 400 results. Edward Esko on Facebook has been posting a variety of pictures of Fukuoka's dryland rice farming methods in use in the American Northeast; he will "Friend" you if you ask. Ed is a longtime macrobiotic teacher and writer (natural living topics). I believe that the OneStrawRevolution website above also has some info on where their methods are being used.

Here's a page with Ed Esko's comments about dryland farming of rice, along with Christian Elwell:

http://www.amberwaves.org/articlePages/articles/cultrice/organic_rice.html

Here is an excerpt from a book on home methods of growing rice. Keep in mind that their estimates of crop yield are low, because they are apparently starting with modern paddy rice (grown in a flooded field). Heirloom dryland rice, according to macrobiotic educator Michio Kushi, has a greater crop yield than paddy rice, and is more nutritious. Black dryland rice is the most nutritious of all; the first specimens of this heirloom rice were found in Japanese burial mounds from the Jomon Period (approx. 10,000 years ago.) The book:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/print-article.aspx?id=2147485895

A synonym for the Fukuoka dryland method is "no-till farming" (and if that is not a libraryland subject heading, it should be). Here's a 2008 Scientific American article on no-till farming:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=no-till

Here's one from the Rodale Institute:

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/no-till_revolution

Even the USDA has climbed on board:

http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/eib-economic-information-bulletin/eib70.asp...

5MaureenRoy
Août 14, 2013, 8:58 am

Here is the site of a non-profit group with educational materials and photos of successful rice-growing methods in the northeastern US:

http://www.ricenortheasternus.org/

6MaureenRoy
Oct 17, 2016, 10:11 am

From 1987, here is a Mother Earth News discussion between Fukuoka and two other leading global ecology writers, including the one and only Bill Mollison. Permaculture magazine is no doubt putting together a mega-issue in honor of Mollison's passing. There's a long lead time for magazine publication, from weeks to months, depending. Here is that interview link:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/ecological-farming-zma...

7MaureenRoy
Modifié : Avr 25, 2018, 4:58 pm

A discussion on no-till farming that includes the US classic book Plowman's folly:

https://returntonow.net/2018/01/27/no-till-gardening-revolution-farmers-putting-...

Be aware that a synonym for "no-till farming" is "no-dig gardening," at least that's the British term used for that method.

82wonderY
Avr 25, 2018, 4:45 pm

>7 MaureenRoy: Great photos!

9MaureenRoy
Modifié : Fév 3, 2021, 4:11 pm

In 2021, another example of a US approach to Fukuoka's "no-till" gardening or farming:

https://www.ecofarmingdaily.com/roller-crimper-to-the-rescue-of-no-till-of-grain...

One of the most recent US synonyms for no-till farming is Regenerative Stewardship.

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