What are the various types of natural farming?

When I went back to Taiwan, China, this January, I met a man in Yilan who had started living as a half-time farmer. When he heard that I had gone to Japan to study natural farming, he immediately looked me up and down and said, "Oh, that's so extreme."

I knew at once what he was thinking. Most people who have had some contact with farming, upon hearing "natural farming," will probably picture something like "no weeding, no fertilizing, no tilling" (and those who know more will add "self-saved seed").

The first time I came into contact with natural farming was in a "Farming with Heart" class at the Hopu Market in Taichung, China, when I heard Mr. Tsukiashi of MOA say that "what natural farming values most is actually what you cannot usually see with the naked eye: the soil and the root systems beneath the surface." I had never had such a thought before. "Ah, so that's it," I felt as if a guiding lamp had been lit in my mind.

Of course, that was only a concept, and at the time I had no idea at all about the concrete methods.

After these two years, if I have gained any understanding of natural farming, it is probably this: natural farming has no instruction manual, and it cannot be followed by the book. It must be adapted to local conditions and to the individual. "Natural farming" means a farming method that "returns to the starting point and values the fundamentals."

No matter what farming method it is, letting the "method" take priority is a very dangerous thing. I remember hearing about people in Taiwan, China, who use Shumei Natural Farming and who, because they insisted on not weeding, ended up in a huge quarrel with the landowner. However, natural farming was never only about the farming part; "self-cultivation" and "harmony with the environment and with others" are also indispensable. Many people yearn for country life and move to the countryside, yet forget to respect the life context of the residents who already live there, insisting, "I am going to use such-and-such a method," or, even though the land they borrowed had been abandoned for several years, immediately planting cabbage or eggplant.

You must first understand the environment and the crops, and then decide whether to weed, whether to till, and whether to fertilize. There are no fixed standards and no fixed methods; everything changes with the environment.

But "no fixed method" leaves people completely at a loss, so every farming method has a set of suggested procedures. It is of course okay to follow the method you agree with, but at the same time do not forget to respect others.

As for our current approach, Wata graduated from Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology and now works at the Natural Farming Research Center; Dacchan was a trainee at the Natural Farming Research Center ten years ago; and I received two years of natural farming training at MOA. Objectively speaking, our approach is probably a more science-oriented natural farming.

When we borrow a new field, we first carry out a soil diagnosis to understand the current state of the soil: whether it tends to be acidic, whether the EC value (Note 1) is too low, or whether an imbalance in the proportions of potassium, magnesium, and calcium salts is making absorption difficult, and so on. If there are parts of the soil's chemical properties that need improvement, we improve them before cultivation. For example, for acidic soil, after calculation we apply an appropriate amount of dolomitic lime so that the field can start out standing at the starting line.

In addition, after many years of ordinary cultivation, many fields usually lack organic matter, or suffer severe nematode damage, or have excessive nitrogen. At such times, we first cultivate green manure such as oats or sorghum for improvement, plowing it into the soil before heading, or cutting it and spreading it over the surface.

Or we mix green manure and crops together. Last year, because Wata wanted to breed a new wheat variety (I forgot to mention that Wata is a plant breeder, specializing in researching and breeding new varieties, with tomato as his area of expertise), he sowed wheat seeds in our own field, and this year we planted potatoes, green peppers, eggplants, and other summer fruit vegetables between the rows of wheat. Wheat attracts natural enemies such as ladybugs, so if pests like aphids appear, they can quickly be brought under control. If there were only crops in the field, it would take some time for ladybugs to arrive, which would give aphids a chance to multiply greatly.

Exchanging ideas with people who use different farming methods is also important. In "Shinshu Pu-gumi," an organization formed by new farmers in Nagano, there are ordinary cultivation and reduced-pesticide cultivation, as well as people who farm part-time while building their own houses, and the crops are diverse: apples, grapes, vegetables, rice, flowers, and so on. Wata says, although everyone uses different cultivation methods and different crops, at the root of it all is "soil," so why can't we listen to one another's practices? The reason everyone gathers together is to find "a common language for farming."

 

I have digressed. The natural farming known in Taiwan, China, should be Shumei Natural Farming, MOA Natural Farming, and the natural farming of Masanobu Fukuoka, whose <<The One-Straw Revolution>> was translated into Chinese and published last year.

Only after coming to Japan did I discover that there are many schools. For example, the source of MOA Natural Farming is the "World Church of Messiah" founded by Mokichi Okada, but because the religious groups differ, natural farming also differs in each.

In addition, one that has recently attracted much attention is the "natural cultivation" of Akinori Kimura, who grew the "miracle apples."

Below is a simple introduction to a few farming methods I know: MOA Natural Farming, the natural farming of the Natural Farming Research Center, Shumei Natural Farming, Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming, Yoshikazu Kawaguchi's natural farming, and Akinori Kimura's natural cultivation.

As for the first three, they actually all come from Mokichi Okada's "World Church of Messiah." Before the church was formally established, Okada began advocating natural farming with no chemical fertilizers and no pesticides in Showa 10 (1935). At present, the church is mainly divided into three major groups: Izunome, Light of the East, and Light of the Main, and each group basically practices natural farming according to his thought, though they have each changed differently with the times. In addition, Mieko Koyama, founder of the "Shinji Shumeikai," which advocates Shumei Natural Farming, was originally also a follower of Okada, but broke away in Showa 45 (1970) and does not belong to the current World Church of Messiah system, so it is separately called "Shumei Natural Farming."

Basically, the source of their natural farming is Okada's thought, so the main trunk is respecting and following nature, bringing out the original power of the soil, making crops the main subject, and practicing self-saved seed. As for compost, it is basically plant-based compost made from fallen leaves and dry grass. This compost is not used to supplement nitrogen, but to keep the soil moist and soft, achieve a heat-retaining effect, and allow the root system to develop well.

MOA Natural Farming belongs to the "Light of the East" group, and it is also where I trained for two years. In addition to what is described above, it leaves more room for discussion regarding the use of materials and animal-based compost. As for animal-based compost, in principle it is not recommended unless its source is trustworthy. As for weeds, if they affect crop growth, they are still removed. Besides the natural farming part, there is also "MOA Special Cultivation," which encourages items that are difficult to grow without pesticides, such as apples and strawberries, by reducing pesticides to below one quarter of the legal limit.

The demonstration farm, Daren Farm, began several years ago to use no compost at all, switching to green manure and practicing continuous cropping, which counts as returning to the starting point advocated by Okada. However, the Natural Farming College still teaches us knowledge related to animal-based compost, potting soil, and so on.

The International Nature Farming Research Center belongs to the "Izunome" group and is located in Hata, Matsumoto City, Nagano Prefecture, which is where I live now, and where Wata also works. The characteristic of its natural farming is breeding: cultivating seeds that can adapt to low-fertilizer environments and compete with weeds. In addition to its independently developed natural-farming-bred F1 seeds (Note 2), it also has fixed varieties (Note 3), native varieties (Note 4), and self-saved seed materials (Note 5). It issues a seed catalog regularly every year, which can be browsed and purchased online. In Japan, many natural farming households and home gardeners buy their seeds. When I was still training at Daren Farm, in addition to seeds from ordinary seed companies, we also bought their seeds to cultivate.

In addition, the International Nature Farming Research Center has introduced EM microorganisms developed by Professor Teruo Higa of the University of the Ryukyus. EM is short for Effective Microorganisms, meaning "useful microorganism group," a symbiotic group of various bacteria such as yeasts, lactic acid bacteria, and photosynthetic bacteria. They use it widely in seedling soil, base fertilizer, irrigation water, and so on.

In addition, they also offer natural farming training. Compared with one or two years at Daren Farm, the Natural Farming Center's course is eight months (because nothing can be cultivated in Nagano in winter), divided into three courses: vegetables, rice, and breeding, with two trainees per course. Dacchan was a trainee in the breeding course ten years ago, and his teacher at the time was Wata (although Wata is only five years older than Dacchan).

There are actually quite a few organizations in Japan that offer organic or natural farming training; I will introduce them another time if I have the chance.

The headquarters of Shumei Natural Farming is located in Koka City, Shiga Prefecture. More people in Taiwan, China, are familiar with Shumei farming, so I will briefly introduce only the Shumei Natural Farming that I have come into contact with.

Shumei Natural Farming follows Okada's discourse on natural farming almost completely: no pesticides, no fertilizers, continuous cropping, and self-saved seed. It values the purity of the soil, so through continuous cropping and self-saved seed it removes the "fertilizer poison" from the soil and seeds. In fact, crops are not merely passive bodies that absorb soil nutrients; through generation after generation of seed saving, crops gradually adapt to the local climate and soil, and together with the microorganisms in the soil they create an environment suitable for one another.

In addition, they do not have a fixed training institution, but one can learn through introductions to advanced farming households.

Masanobu Fukuoka's natural farming is very Eastern in thought, a philosophy of "nothingness" that emphasizes "science is useless," "human intellect is useless," and "nothing is better than something."

From my observation, Okada's natural farming in Japan is mostly centered on believers, while Masanobu Fukuoka, because of the publication of his books and his international activity, has inspired many people I have met who practice pesticide-free cultivation after reading "The One-Straw Revolution."

His methods completely overturn common sense, such as not plowing the rice paddy, not raising seedlings, sowing directly, and scattering wheat before the rice is harvested. There is also the clay pellet said to be the culmination of his thought: seeds of different kinds, such as fruit trees, vegetables, and herbs, are mixed together, rolled into clay pellets one by one, and tossed about here and there. Fukuoka said, if you sow in a place decided by humans, how do you know whether it is suitable? Better to leave it to nature to choose; a place where he had thought it impossible to grow burdock unexpectedly grew very well.

Many people's impression of natural farming as "no tilling, no weeding, no fertilizing" comes from Masanobu Fukuoka. See this video for an introduction to Masanobu Fukuoka:

At the beginning, Fukuoka says: Do nothing, and it will become the best farming method.

Living in symbiosis with nature and following the rhythm of the four seasons, how elegant and how joyful; this is the goal of every urban person who yearns for country life.

Correction: mountain life. Fukuoka's approach can be remembered, can be respected, and can become an idol, but it is very hard to imitate, and it has not become widespread in Japan either. In addition, the web of human relationships in rural areas, and agricultural techniques and management coordinated with the local area (for example, whether or not to weed is a major matter that can affect neighborhood relations), are all parts that cannot be ignored.

Fukuoka also said, nature is different from letting things run wild. However, the difference between the two can probably only be understood after spending many years and experiencing many failures.

But Masanobu Fukuoka's spirit has been deeply planted in people's hearts. For example, Akinori Kimura of the miracle apples, and Nobuo Iwasawa (Note 6), who developed no-till rice paddy cultivation techniques, were both inspired by him to devote themselves to it, and as a result many practical natural farming techniques have been born.

To have such a spiritual mentor is a very lucky thing.

Another great figure in natural farming is Yoshikazu Kawaguchi of Nara. Kawaguchi was the son of a farming family and lived through the era of large machinery and pesticides. Influenced by the thought of Masanobu Fukuoka, Heiji Fujii, and others, he began practicing no-till, no-weed cultivation, which spread widely in Japan under the name "natural farming", sending out its message nationwide through the "Akame Natural Farming School" in Nara and Mie.

The Akame Natural Farming School is also quite interesting. From 1991 to 2004, about 300 people have studied there. Kawaguchi believes that people who decide to take up natural farming are generally people with little money who are facing a major turning point in life, such as people who have left their companies or students, so he does not charge fees: "As long as there is rice and vegetables, you won't starve." The operation of the school relies on voluntary donations from the students.

Because natural farming does not use farm machinery and relies entirely on human labor, the area one can manage is limited. I personally think that if one is not living purely by farming, but wants to live a life centered on farming, half farming and half something else, with another source of income, this method is more suitable.

Among the three great figures of natural farming (and now perhaps Akinori Kimura should be added), he is also the only one still alive at present.

For those who can read Japanese, the NHK program <<Age of the Heart: Religion, Life>> introduced him; you can take a look.

Finally, there is the much-watched Akinori Kimura. His farming method is called "natural cultivation," and its substance also emphasizes no tilling and no weeding, with the aim of creating a microbe-rich ecosystem so that plants can grow smoothly. In addition, for apple cultivation, Kimura introduced soybeans as ground cover, growing symbiotically with the apples and using rhizobia to increase nitrogen.

Natural cultivation currently also has the "Natural Cultivation Practice School" accepting trainees, and many lectures are held in various places as well. Of course, quite a few people, after the third year of using natural cultivation, regret it and say, "The field is in such a state that I wouldn't dare let others see it." The distance between ideal and reality still exists.

Kimura has already reached star level, but when I recall the admiration and awe I felt when I first read <<A Fool's Life, Once in a Lifetime>>, only a spirit like Grandpa Kimura's, ignoring the eyes of the outside world and burying himself in it for ten years, could attract so many people to follow him.

There are many other schools as well, and I am still learning; I will introduce them another time when I have the chance.

In fact, no matter what the method is, in the end it is all about hoping to create an ecosystem with biodiversity, in which all can coexist in balance. Humans must find a balance between nature and letting things run wild, and must also be able to sustain their own livelihood. No farming method can provide a textbook; rather, after ceaseless exploration and after a thousand failures, one can probably grasp just a little bit of the knack.

So, find a method you like and take a look at it as a reference; in the end, you still have to keep talking, endlessly, with the patch of land where you are.

Note 1 EC value (Electro Conductivity): electrical conductivity, a value indicating whether soil is fertile or not. Pure water cannot conduct electricity; conduction requires water with dissolved salts, and the EC value is the proportion of salt concentration in water. Because it is closely related to the content of nitrate nitrogen, the EC value can also be used to infer how much nitrate nitrogen there is.

Note 2 Natural-farming-bred F1 seeds: the first hybrid generation (F1) produced by crossing mother plants cultivated by natural farming. Compared with the selection standards of ordinary seed companies, particular importance is placed on adaptability to environments such as low fertilizer and open-field cultivation. Because they are produced by crossing parents with various different properties such as strong vigor, good quality, and good disease resistance, although the next generation (F2) of such F1 seeds will show various different properties, particularly weak plants are less likely to appear, and after three or four years of self-saved seed, one can breed an original variety suited to the local climate and soil. The mother plants of ordinary F1 seeds are pure lines uniform in shape and quality; if self-saved seed is carried out, F2 with weak disease resistance and poor vigor may appear, and the differences in form and growth among them are also great.

Note 3 Fixed varieties: a group of plants with stable genes, bred through the selection of mother plants. Even with self-saved seed, excessive variation will not appear, and they will gradually change to form seeds suited to the local climate and soil. Through further selection of mother plants, properties such as shape and early or late maturity can be changed.

Note 4 Native varieties: varieties selected to adapt to the cultivation environment of natural farming, with advantages such as strong vigor and good disease resistance. In order not to destroy the balance of the variety's genes and to maintain its characteristics and differences, excessively strict selection is not carried out.

Note 5 Self-saved seed materials: a group of plants that look similar in appearance and fruit, but actually have more genetic variability than fixed varieties. By selecting and cultivating mother plants, one can breed an original variety.

Note 6 Nobuo Iwasawa: advocated rice paddy cultivation with no winter flooding and no tilling, and also published many works in Japan. The No-Till Farming Promotion Association carries on his will, promoting winter flooding of rice paddies and no-till transplanting cultivation, and holds a "Natural Farming School" lecture every year.