The Natural Way of Farming: The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy [Paperback]

Masanobu Fukuoka (Author), Frederic P. Metreaud (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1985

From rear cover notes: "...Here in one volume are the secrets of Fukuoka's approach to farming the natural way; the theory and practice of working with nature, and living better for it. At once philosophical and down-to-earth, he takes us on a walk through healthy fields, and clearly explains how we can and must change our way of doing things if we are to make lasting peace with the earth and ourselves. Photographs, diagrams, and tables provide abundant practical reference for gardeners and farmers, while the lucid text will open the eyes of the most general reader. Detailed coverage of actual methods instructs competently without becoming overly technical. This is a highly accessible book with far-reaching implications and applications for all."

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Japanese

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Japan Publications; 1st edition (October 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870406132
• ISBN-13: 978-0870406133
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #510,629 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One more straw, November 26, 2007

By 

Cecil Bothwell "Author of "Whale Falls: A... (Asheville, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Natural Way of Farming: The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy (Paperback)

Doing nothing, being nothing, becoming nothing is the goal of Fukuoka's farming method, an approach to agriculture which he has pursued for over forty years with resounding success. With no tillage, no fertilizer, no weeding and no pesticides he consistently produces rice, barley, fruit and vegetable crops that equal or exceed the yield per acre of neighboring farmers who embrace modern scientific agriculture. The basis of his philosophy is that nature grows plants just fine without our interference so that the most practical approach is to get out of the way. In the course of explaining his reasoning and methods, this do-nothing farmer delivers a scorching indictment of chemical agriculture and the human assumption that we can improve on nature. He explains the beneficial role of insects and plants usually characterized as pests, the fallacy of artificially boosting fertility with petrochemical concoctions, the logical error implicit in the use of farm machinery or draft animals, and why pollution is an inevitable result of misguided attempts to improve on nature. Calculation of the energy input versus the caloric output of various farms results in the surprising discovery (perhaps it shouldn't be) that (minimal) human labor is the most efficient way to produce food. Draft animals add more work and more energy input, small scale machines compound the problem and large scale mechanized agriculture proves to be a vast waste of energy. He calls modern American farmers "subcontractors of the oil industry," and claims that traditional Japanese farmers on 3-5 acres achieve a real net income higher than American farmers on 500-700 acres. (A skeptical friend of mine wondered if Japanese farm price supports were a factor here. Obviously a complex issue, that, but the declining economic viability of petro-chemical farming is obvious when we note that the onslaught of monster tractors and oil based fertilizers and pesticides has paralleled the collapse of the family farm. The author, to his credit, rejects any artificial manipulation of food prices and believes they should naturally be more or less the same worldwide.) Nor is this text pure philosophy, including as it does specific practical advice on the transition from scientific to natural methods. Crop rotation programs for cold or warm climates, and a ten year rotation system for grain and vegetables make this a practical manual for husbandry. As Fukuoka eloquently suggests, the universe is a circle returning to nothing. Nothing is the most profitable object of our meditations. Doing nothing is simply going with the flow. (See also his "groundbreaking" (literally) ONE STRAW REVOLUTION, Other India Press; 1992)

49 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's all here, October 9, 2000

By 

dan (Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Natural Way of Farming: The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy (Paperback)

After reading the one straw revolution i really wanted to see how Fukuokas' system worked. I was not disapointed by this well layed out and functional guide to his methods. While his philosophy claims that no list of rules and time tables can acturatelly set out how natural farming should work, the publication of the hystory and methods of his experiment proves vital to the unhinging of common industrial theories on the subject.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genius, pure genius, January 30, 2008

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Book Lover (Lenox, MA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Natural Way of Farming: The Theory and Practice of Green Philosophy (Paperback)

Every now and then there are gifted individuals who come along who see and understand with new eyes and have a thorough understanding of their subject, not only in its own right, but in the context of how that topic fits into the whole. Fukuoka is such an individual and his understanding and practice of farming is genius and he explains how using his methods will make your farm easy to run, outproduce typical American farming methods without the need for chemicals that have been destroying the soil and poisoning our water and poisoning the farmer as well. His methods are incredibly simple, require no special machinery, no big equipment mortgages, are applicable to all size farms and produce results. Not only that, his methods improve the soil and he has simple ideas on how to bring back areas that we have turned into desert due to bad farming practices and animal grazing. I wish his writing would spread to the whole farming community as I suspect his books have not been noticed. His books are priceless and a real gift to food production.