Masanobu Fukuoka

I saw a post about Fukuoka's book, "The One-Straw Revolution," on the Arthur blog last week. Please bear with me while I throw many related links at you.

"Masanobu Fukuoka's book about growing food has been changing the lives of readers since it was first published in 1978.* It is a call to arms, a manifesto, and a radical rethinking of the global systems we rely on to feed us all. At the same time, it is the memoir of a man whose spiritual beliefs underpin and inform every aspect of his innovative farming system."

"'One Straw' describes the events that led to the development of Fukuoka's concept of natural farming. In this book, he emphasises the basic principles of non-cultivation and non-chemical farming by the incorporation and controlled use of weeds rather than their eradication. Using these methods Fukuoka produces greater crops than achieved by chemically-based and modern farming practices. Year by year the soil becomes richer and more productive. This book should be compulsory reading for all who wish to bring about change, not only in agriculture, but also in how we view the entire process of food production."

"What is remarkable is that Fukuoka's natural farming and permaculture should resemble each other so closely despite their nearly opposite approaches. Permaculture relies on the human intellect to devise a strategy to live abundantly and sustainably within nature. Fukuoka sees the human intellect as the culprit serving only to separate people from nature. The 'one mountain top, many paths' adage seems to apply here."


Masanobu Fukuoka died at the age of 95 on August 16, 2008, at his home in Iyo, Ehime Prefecture, Japan.

* A new edition of "The One-Straw Revolution" will be available in May.