The Power of (Green) One - Take 1

A farmer in a nondescript village in a Japanese Perfecture shook the conscience of the nation when words spread that his farm yields were consistently better than the best yields of scientifically/ chemically  farmed fields in Japan. What stunned them most was the information that he neither used fertilizers nor machines!!!

People from all walks of life, particularly sceptical scientific community, started forming a bee-line to his farm to try and understand the man and his concepts. They all went back more than convinced that his technique was far superior than all that science could offer.

What was that he did so extraordinarily well that stumped even the most sophisticated agro scientists world over?

He didn't do anything extraordinary. In fact he didn't do 'anything at all'!!!

A trained plant scientist, he had an epipheny one night that we the world didn't know nothing. That we would never be able to understand nature from within it. Complicated stuff, right? 

Let me simplify it.

He started questioning conventional wisdom and practices and started wondering 'what if I don't do this? What if I don't do that?'.

He stopped tilling, fertilizing and deweeding!!! 

'Absolutely crazy! How cld we ever farm without doing these?!' 

'Can any sane farmer commit more blunders than this? Ever?!'

But the results were stunning and was there for all to see. 

Masanobu Fukuoka practiced 'Do Nothing' farming for 50 years, working 'one with nature', observing and learning all the time. His vision was simple; the only purpose of human beings is to be 'one with nature' and as a natural consequence, 'be happy like children'.

He lived for 95 years - 30 of which were spent in near-isolation as he withdrew from the scientific world and spent his life observing nature. His diet was simple rice soup, veggies and fruits, all from his farm. He lived healthy right through on those simple pleasures inspite of what the scientific world funded by mega business made us believe till today about the need for 'good, balanced, nutritious, fortified food'...

He is hailed as the Father of Natural farming.

He visited India in the 80s and likened his philosophy with that of another great soul, M.K. Gandhi.


He passed away in 2008, the year I decided that I should return to my green roots!

Here are some of his profound quotes:

"

The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.

...

Modern research divides nature into tiny pieces and conducts tests that conform neither with natural law nor with practiced experience. The results are arranged for the convenience of research, not according to the needs of the farmer.

...

Food and medicine are not two different things; they are the front and back of the body.

...

Speaking biologically, fruit in a slightly shrivelled 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.

...

People think they understand things because they become familiar with them. This is only superficial knowledge. It is knowledge of the astronomer who knows the names of the stars, the botanist who knows the classification of leaves and flowers, the artist who knows the aesthetics of green and red. This is not to know nature itself - the earth and sky, green and red. Astronomer, botanist and artist have done no more than grasp impressions and interpret them, each within the vaults of his own mind. The more involved they become with the activity of the intellect, the more they set themselves apart and the more difficult it become to live naturally.

...

Just playing or doing nothing at all, children are happy. A discriminating adult, on the other hand, decided what will make him happy, and when these conditions are met, he feels satisfied.

...

Originally, human beings had no purpose. Now, dreaming up some purpose or other, they struggle away trying to find the meaning of life. It is an one-man wrestling match. There is no purpose one has to think about, or go out in search of. You would do well to ask the children whether or not a life without purpose is meaningless.

From the time they enter nursery school, people's sorrow begin. The human being was a happy creature, but he created a hard world and now struggling trying to break out of it.

In nature, there is a life and death, and nature is joyful. In human society, there is life and death, and people live in sorrow.

...

If we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back through the door with a pitchfork!

"

I shall write a separate series of posts on the man and his observations / practices. Have you read 'One Straw Revolution' by the way? This book has singularly redefined the concept of Natural Farming forever. For those who can't wait for my series, here is the book.

One Straw Revolution 

Welcome on board!