Natural farming is all about farming in harmony with nature. It is about growing crops and/or rearing livestock in a sustainable way, which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
On a natural farm, food production does not involve the depletion of natural resources. Farmers and growers work with the Earth’s natural cycles, and within a healthy ecological framework, to produce food and other resources to meet human needs.
Natural farming involves eschewing all synthetic inputs, growing organically and with an emphasis on letting nature take the reigns, and mimicking the ecological processes and organisation of natural ecosystems. It involves working with the natural landscape in a particular area, and disrupting nature as little as possible.
Why Most Modern Farming is Not Natural At All
Nature farming is one of the forms of sustainable farming which are a reaction against the non-natural and invasive practices of much modern agriculture.
Modern agriculture has a lot to answer for. And natural farming is one of the movements within sustainable farming which seeks to redress the massive problems which large scale mono-crop and intensive factory farming cause.
In much modern farming, crop and livestock farming are divorced from one another. Soils around the world are being degraded at an alarming rate. Agriculture contributes massively to our climate crisis, and wastes a vast quantity of water and other resources. It causes pollution in a range of ways, and results in high levels of deforestation and environmental degradation.
Natural farming is one movement which seeks to find an alternative way.
The History of the Natural Farming Movement
The global natural farming movement, also known as the Fukuoka Method, or ‘do nothing’ farming originated in Japan with the Japanese farmer and philosopher, Masanobu Fukuoka. He introduced the term ‘natural farming’ in his 1975 book ‘The One Straw Revolution’ (Amazon Affiliate link). This work was extremely influential on a number of other movements within sustainable and organic farming. And he is usually considered to be the ‘father’ of natural farming. (Though another Japanese farmer and philosopher, Mokichi Okada, did use the term when describing his ‘no fertilizer’ farming system in the 1930s.)
It is also worthwhile noting that for much of human history, an approach akin to natural farming was the norm. Ecological researchers note that native American tribes worked the land for hundreds of years in ways which are often very similar to the practices of today’s natural farmers. And other regions also had a history of far more natural farming.
Fukuoka’s ideas challenged the conventions which underpin modern agro-industry. He argued that productive farms can be closed-loop systems, which do not require human-supplied inputs, as long as we mimic nature, and take advantage of the local natural environment. His approach emphasised small-scale operation and challenged the need for mechanised farming techniques for high productivity, economies of scale and efficiency.
Fukuoka died in 2008, aged 95, but his ideas have lived on. The mantel of leading practitioner in the natural farming movement was taken up by Yoshikazu Kawaguchi, who followed many of Fukuoka’s principles but also evolved the core ideas. Many other farmers and growers around the world now also follow or were influenced by the central tenets of the movement which began with ‘The One Straw Revolution’ (Amazon Affiliate link).
The Central Tenets of Natural Farming or Nature Farming
Fukuoka set out five key principles for natural farming:
- No tillage.
- No fertilizer.
- No pesticides or herbicides.
- No weeding.
- No pruning.
Kawaguchi restates the central principles of natural farming as:
- “ Do not plow the fields.
- Weeds and insects are not your enemies.
- There is no need to add fertilizers.
- Adjust the foods you grow based on your local climate and conditions.”
Beyond this, however, natural farming, as laid out by Fukuoka, is not just simply about food production. Farming, for Fukuoka, was not just about cultivation of crops. In the natural farming movement, it is also about an aesthetic or spiritual way of life, the ultimate goal being to cultivate and perfect human beings. This is a philosophy rather than just a series of practical guidelines for sustainable farming.
Natural Farming Vs Permaculture and Other Organic Farming
Natural farming shares many similarities with permaculture and other organic farming movements. All these movements share the goal of working with nature, and finding more sustainable ways to farm.
However, it does differ from them in a few crucial ways. Most notably, in natural farmings refusal of any fertilizer inputs (even organic ones), and in Fukuoka’s rejection of any weeding or pruning – both of which are practices undertaken (at least minimally) on most organic farms.
Natural farming also takes a far less invasive approach than permaculture. In permaculture, working with nature is also key. But interventions such as terracing on slopes, or the digging of swales are common. Human intervention is far less in natural farming, though in other respects, there are many similarities between the movements and the philosophy which underpins their ideas.
Whether or not we actually choose the adopt precisely the same ideology and methods as Fukuoka, (who wrote about what worked in his specific location in Japan), it is clear that natural farming has been hugely influential on the sustainable farming movement. And that there is a huge benefit in finding locally appropriate ways to work with nature to meet our needs.
Studying natural farming is essential for anyone with an interest in rejecting modern agri-business, and farming or growing food in a more ecologically sensitive and sustainable way.
