Articles on the Fukuoka Farming website

*The Fukuoka Farming Website* *Articles related to Fukuoka Farming*
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The 'Plowboy' interview of Masanobu Fukuoka
This interview first appeared in the July/August 1982 issue of "Mother Earth News" and is reproduced here with their kind permission and generous cooperation. This article is based on an interview conducted by Larry Korn, the editor of "One-Straw Revolution", while Fukuoka-san was on his tour of the United States in 1979. It should be considered a "must read" for anyone interested in the sensei's teachings.

"My natural way of farming is the sensible one"
The Times of India interview with Masanobu Fukuoka
By Vithal C. Nadkami, 18 October, 1997

"The Synergistic Garden"
by Emilia Hazelip (a list participant), whose work is strongly influenced by Masanobu Fukuoka's system of 'natural agriculture', by permaculture, and by Marc Boufils's agronomical research, as well as by her own experimental work growing food crops using only the soil's self fertility in Southern France, Northern France, Northern Spain, Northern Italy, Belgium, England, and Canada.

"The Fundamental Reality that Underlies Fukuoka's Principles"
by Emilia Hazelip. Why Fukuoka's method actually works.

"Interpreting Fukuoka"
An article written for this website with the intention of making it a bit easier to read and understand what Fukuoka is saying.

"The Living Soil"
by well-known Australian Permaculturist Robyn Francis. About the work of Dr. Alan Smith in soil microbiology. An easy-to-read and excellent companion piece to Emilia Hazelip's "Fundamental Reality" article.
Dutch Translation

"Greening the Desert"
Applying natural farming techniques in Africa, an interview with Masanobu Fukuoka, by Robert and Diane Gilman -- 1985 also at: this site, and this site, and in French at: this site

"Nature Knows Best"
by Suma Varughese, Bombay Union of Journalists, India -- May, 1997

"Organic Gardening - Past, Present, and Future"
Warm Earth magazine, Australia

"The Organic Farming Movement: Trailblazers, Heroes, and Pioneers"
by David Kupfer

"Restoring Paradise on Earth"
Eye on the World -- author unidentified

Excerpt from "One-Straw Revolution" AT Steve Soloman's Soil and Health library

"Herbal Remedies for Social Wellbeing"
-- Changemakers.net Journal. How Rosana Tositrakul, a student of Fukuoka, got him to come to Thailand, and some of the effects of that visit.

Review of "The One-Straw Revolution"
by Brian Worick Dec. 1999

"At the Hut of the Small Mind"
by Sanford Goldstein. An online book of poems stemming from the author's 1982 visit to Fukuoka's farm. Includes introductory text describing that visit.

"El Trabajo de Masanobu Fukuoka, por Zen"
English Translation
Extraído de The best of permaculture, a collection, Max O Lindegger / Robert Tap, 1986, traducción libre a cargo de Lucía Battegazzore.

"L'Agriculture Naturelle de Masanobu Fukuoka"
English Translation
The Natural Agriculture of Masanobu Fukuoka. Website examines the work of Fukuoka.

"Masanobu Fukuoka"
English Translation
1914 in einem kleinen Dorf auf der Insel Shikoku in Südjapan geboren
Er hat die Landwirtschaft revolutioniert und das schon vor mehr als 50! Jahren.
Er vertraute einfach der Vollkommenheit der Natur.

"Masanobu Fukuoka and Natural Agriculture"
English Translation
By Toni Marin. Spanish language site.

"El Japonses Masanobu Fukuoka Trae a Mallorca su Agricultura Natural"
Brief article about Fukuoka's visit to Mallorca in 1999. Not able to translate using Google.

"El Radicalismo del Cultivo Natural (en torno a Masanobu Fukuoka)"
English Translation
Summary of material from "The One-Straw Revolution" in Spanish

"Agricultura Natural"
English Translation
Recursos para una vida simple, natural y perdurable. SELBA es una entidad independiente y sin ánimo de lucro, creada con el objetivo de promover formas de vida perdurables, especialmente en el mundo rural. SELBA is an independent organization and without spirit of profit, created with the objective to promote lasting forms of life, specially in the rural world.

"La Senda Fukuoka"
English Translation
Another short summary of material from "The One-Straw Revolution" in Spanish

"Nendo Dango"
English Translation
Three pages of detailed analysis of Fukuoka's method and principles in Spanish

"Un 'Provocatore' Che ci Deve Fare Riflettere"
English Translation
A general article about Fukuoka's method and principles in Italian

"No-till, Mulch-based Market Gardening"
by Mark Cain. An excellent companion piece to Emilia Hazelip's article (in the ARTICLES section).

The Southern Europe Greenbelt Project
A project using Fukuoka's seedball technique to reverse desertification in Southern Europe.

"The Future is Abundant"
An online book about developing sustainable agriculture written by Larry Korn, English translator of "One-Straw Revolution". "The Future is Abundant is a statement of hope and an invitation to join us in creating a new agriculture. We are inspired by this task largely by the work of Japanese farmer Masanobu Fukuoka, author of The One-Straw Revolution, and Australian environmental scientist Bill Mollison, author of Permaculture One and Permaculture Two."

"Nature Farming and Effective Microorganisms"
by Steve Diver, ATTRA. Examines Mokichi Okada's Nature Gardening method and compares it to Fukuoka's method.

"Winter Wheat in North Europe"
"...according to the Fukuoka-Bonfils Method." Winter wheat in crop rotations.

"The Natural Way of Gardening"
by Kirby Fry, Program Coordinator, Cross Timbers Permaculture Institute. Examines Fukuoka's farming method.

"Science, Colonialism, and Violence: A Luddite View"
by Claude Alvares From "Science, hegemony and violence" published by United Nations University Uses Fukuoka to demonstrate problems with scientific agriculture.

"A Gandhian Approach to Technological Wonders for the 21st Century"
by T.S. Ananthu -- Comprehensive Site by Gandhian Institution, Bombay, Sarvodaya, Mandal, India references Fukuok's work to illustrate what he is saying is possible.

Elements of "The Elysian Fields Project, 2001"
for a commercial dairy farm in New York State incorporating Fukuoka's methods. Extensive documentation

'Seeds of Change' interview with Bill Mollison
From their eNewsletter #25, February 21, 2002. Brief reference to Fukuoka in comparison with Takao Furuno, another Japanese rice farmer who uses ducks to weed, fertilize and cultivate his rice fields.

More information about Furuno's methods can be found at:
"One Bird -- Ten Thousand Treasures"
"Duck Power and a Tale of Success"
and "Farming Rice with Ducks"

"Biomimicry: Secrets Hiding in Plain Sight"
Nov 17, 1997 book review of "Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature" by Janine M. Benyus Explores "doing it Nature's way", looks at practitioners including Fukuoka.

"Ecomimesis: Copying Ecosystems for Fun and Profit"
Another article on biomimicry from the same source: Natural Logic, Feb 14, 1996. Uses the term "ecomimetic" to mean learning from natural processes, mimicing ecosystems.

"A Fukuoka There, a Cherkadi Here…"
from CAAM

"Ethics, Sustainability, and Healing"
by Dr. Stuart B. Hill Associate Professor of Entomology and Director, Ecological Agriculture Projects. Refer's to Fukuoka as example of profound simplicity in discussion of what is sustainability.

ToC of "The Final Empire: The Collapse of Civilization and the Seed of the Future"
By William H. Kotke. Online eBook. Fukuoka is one of the "Seeds of the Future" in Chapter 16

"Natural Farming Project in Hulikadu, Karnataka, India"
Based on Fukuoka's methods.

"Listening to Nature's Voice"
by Alan Imai. Primarily about Moikichi Okada and Nature Farming, but references to, and quotes from, Fukuoka on this topic

"Alternative Agriculture in Thailand and Japan"
This paper examines the current state of the alternative agriculture movement, and its future potential, in Thailand and Japan. -- January, 1999

"Vietnam Conference Fosters Natural Farming"
Canadian Friends Service Committee -- Quaker Concern, Spring, 1997

"Local Innovations Spur Vietnam Farming Project"
Canadian Friends Service Committee -- Quaker Concern, Summer, 1998

"Searching for Common Ground: Toward Sustainable Agriculture in Japan and California"
Sustainable Agriculture -- University of California -- Summer, 1998

"The Man Who Farms Water"
An interesting article on rainwater harvesting in Southern Africa, with techniques that could be used in other environments.

"On Pests, Weeds and Terrorists: Weaving Harmony Through Diversity"
By Vandana Shiva. Examines the impact of pesticides on people and other lifeforms using examples from India. From ZNet.

"The Use of Ramial Chipped Wood in Agriculture"
by B. Noel. Examines a method developed in Canada that uses chipped hardwoods in building soils.

"Raised Beds and Waru Waru Cultivation"
Examines the use of raised beds and cultivation techniques of the Inca Empire.

"Idkidu Makes a Promising Start"
Another article on harvesting rainwater, this time in India. Center for Alternative Agricultural Media (CAAM)

"Self-help Journalism"
among farmers. From CAAM

"Guidelines for Writing Farm Articles"
from CAAM

"Nutrient Quantity or Nutrient Access?"
By Roland Bunch. A New Understanding of How to Maintain Soil Fertility in the Tropics in PDF format.

"An Odyssey of Discovery: Principles of Agriculture for the Humind Tropics"
By Roland Bunch

Report on soil conservation, soil improvement and extension for the Song Da watershed and CARE projects
By Roland Bunch. Don't let the title mislead you. This article is described by one of the active list participants as "a mature, well-thought-out application of what Bunch has learned in the field for the past 20 years, as applied to farming in a province of Vietnam. It's close to a minor masterpiece."

Growing a beautiful edible landscape in an urban neighborhood
Presentation by Robert Waldrop at the Arkansas Oklahoma Horticultural Industries Trade Show, Springdale, Arkansas, January 10, 2003

Lost Crops of the Incas Little-Known Plants of the Andes with Promise for Worldwide Cultivation (1989)
An online book about the raised bed cultivation of the Incas called Waru Waru

Case study "The Waru Waru, an alternative technology"
By Hugo Rodrigyez. The Waru Waru, an alternative technology for the sustainable agriculture in Puno Peru.

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