Masanobu Fukuoka

Masanobu Fukuoka is one of the revolutionary natural farmers, who uses the “no-till”, “do-nothing” method of farming. His famous book, The One Straw Revolution, explains this method. He learns from nature and is able to apply what he learns in his farming practice.

He has managed to achieve amazing yields from a small piece of land in the mountains of Japan. Masanobu Fukuoka has achieved greater yields with less labour by understanding the microclimate.

The four basic guiding principles are:

1)no cultivation
2)no chemical fertilizer or prepared compost
3)no weeding
4)no dependence on chemicals.


Masanobu Fukuoka never digs the soil over. He only adds straw mulch, which fertilises the ground. In this way the natural balance in the soil in undisturbed, allowing for better productivity and soil fertility.

Ducks abound on the lands where he works, and they help him by composting the lands with their droppings and also eating the “weeds”. There is no preparation of compost, everything is composted on the field. This saves immense amounts of energy, and allows all the nutrients formed in the decomposition process to be utilized. Fukuoka never adds artificial chemical or fertilizers to his crops. He used liquid manure teas to flood his fields and clover as a green manure to fix nitrogen.

He makes seed pellets by rolling the seed in clay, and allowing the clay to dry around each seed. Just before a crop is ready for harvest, the seed for the next crop are dispersed in the field. This gives the germinating seeds the protection of the mature crop.

The method is an entirely natural system of farming in harmony with nature. He plants a diversity of crops (polyculture), including rice, wheat, barley and lots of vegetables and fruit trees. He never prunes the fruit trees, and has found that the trees produce more abundantly when they are un-pruned.

Fukuoka experimented on his own for many years, eventually he started to share his knowledge and methods, and many people have learned with him.

He has simple solutions, which should be taken into account when farming.

Masanobu says, “Our task is to practice farming the way God does. That could be the way to start saving this world.” (from an interview with Robert and Diane Gilman)