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Natural farming is an ecological farming approach established by Masanobu Fukuoka (1913–2008), a Japanese farmer and philosopher, introduced in his 1975 book ''The One-Straw Revolution''. Fukuoka described his way of farming as in Japanese.〔1975 1978 re-presentation ''The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming''.〕 It is also referred to as "the Fukuoka Method", "the natural way of farming" or "do-nothing farming". The title refers not to lack of effort, but to the avoidance of manufactured inputs and equipment. Natural farming is related to fertility farming, organic farming, sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, ecoagriculture and permaculture but should be distinguished from biodynamic agriculture. The system exploits the complexity of living organisms that shape each particular ecosystem. Fukuoka saw farming both as a means of producing food and as an aesthetic or spiritual approach to life, the ultimate goal of which was, "the cultivation and perfection of human beings". He suggested that farmers could benefit from closely observing local conditions. Natural farming is a closed system, one that demands no human-supplied inputs and mimics nature.〔Trees on Organic Farms, Mirret, Erin Paige. North Carolina State University, 2001〕 Fukuoka's ideas challenged conventions that are core to modern agro-industries, instead promoting an approach that takes advantage of the local environment. Natural farming differs from conventional organic farming, which Fukuoka considered to be another modern technique that disturbs nature.〔( What Does Natural Farming Mean? ) by Toyoda, Natsuko〕 Fukuoka claimed that his approach prevents water pollution, biodiversity loss and soil erosion, while providing ample amounts of food. == Principles == Fukuoka distilled natural farming into five principles: # No tillage # No fertilizer # No pesticides or herbicides # No weeding # No pruning Though many of his plant varieties and practices relate specifically to Japan and even to local conditions in subtropical western Shikoku, his philosophy and the governing principles of his farming systems have been applied from Africa to the temperate northern hemisphere. In India, natural farming is often referred to as "Rishi Kheti".〔("Masanobu Fukuoka: The man who did nothing By Malvika Tegta" ) "DNA Daily News and Analysis". "Published: Sunday, Aug 22, 2010, 2:59 IST". "Place: Mumbai", India. (Retrieved 1 December 2010)〕〔("Natural farming succeeds in Indian village By Partap C Aggarwal" in the 1980s ) (''Satavic Farms'' ) (India), "Slowly, bit by bit, we found ourselves close to what is called ‘natural farming’, pioneered in Japan by Masanobu Fukuoka. At Rasulia we called it 'rishi kheti' (agriculture of the sages)."〕 In India natural farming or rishi kheti includes ancient vedic principles of farming including use of animal waste and herbs for controlling pests and promoting growth. The rishi 's or Indian sages use cow products like buttermilk, milk, curd and its waste urine for preparing growth promoters. The Rishi or Vedic farming is regarded as non -violent farming without any usage of chemical fertilizer and pesticides. They obtain high quality natural or organic produce having medicinal values.Today still small number of farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu use this farming in India. Principally, natural farming minimises human labour and adopts, as closely as practical, nature's production of foods such as rice, barley, daikon or citrus in biodiverse agricultural ecosystems. Without plowing, seeds germinate well on the surface if site conditions meet the needs of the seeds placed there. Fukuoka used the presence of spiders in his fields as a key performance indicator of sustainability.} Fukuoka specifies that the ground remain covered by weeds, white clover, alfalfa, herbaceous legumes, and sometimes deliberately sown herbaceous plants. Ground cover is present along with grain, vegetable crops and orchards. Chickens run free in orchards and ducks and carp populate rice fields.〔1975 1978 re-presentation ''The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming''〕 Periodically ground layer plants including weeds may be cut and left on the surface, returning their nutrients to the soil, while suppressing weed growth. This also facilitates the sowing of seeds in the same area because the dense ground layer hides the seeds from animals such as birds. For summer rice and winter barley grain crops, ground cover enhances nitrogen fixation. Straw from the previous crop mulches the topsoil. Each grain crop is sown before the previous one is harvested by broadcasting the seed among the standing crop. Later, this method was reduced to a single direct seeding of clover, barley and rice over the standing heads of rice. The result is a denser crop of smaller, but highly productive and stronger plants. Fukuoka's practice and philosophy emphasised small scale operation and challenged the need for mechanised farming techniques for high productivity, efficiency and economies of scale. While his family's farm was larger than the Japanese average, he used one field of grain crops as a small-scale example of his system. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Natural farming」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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