2
Four Principles of Natural Farming
Masanobu Fukuoka
Make your way carefully through these fields. Dragonflies and moths fly up in a
flurry. Honeybees buzz from blossom to blossom. Part the leaves and you will see
insects, spiders, frogs, lizards and many other small animals bustling about in the
cool shade. Moles and earthworms burrow beneath the surface.
This is a balanced rice field ecosystem. Insect and plant communities maintain
a stable relationship here. It is not uncommon for a plant disease to sweep through
this area, leaving the crops in these fields unaffected.
And now look over at the neighbour’s field for a moment. The weeds have all
been wiped out by herbicides and cultivation. The soil animals and insects have
been exterminated by poison. The soil has been burned clean of organic matter
and microorganisms by chemical fertilizers. In the summer you see farmers at work
in the fields, wearing gas masks and long rubber gloves. These rice fields, which
have been farmed continuously for over 1500 years, have now been laid waste by
the exploitive farming practices of a single generation.
Four Principles
The first is no cultivation, that is, no ploughing or turning of the soil. For centu-
ries, farmers have assumed that the plough is essential for growing crops. However,
non-cultivation is fundamental to natural farming. The Earth cultivates itself nat-
urally by means of the penetration of plant roots and the activity of microorgan-
isms, small animals and earthworms.
The second is no chemical fertilizer or prepared compost.^1 People interfere
with nature, and, try as they may, they cannot heal the resulting wounds. Their
careless farming practices drain the soil of essential nutrients and the result is yearly
depletion of the land. If left to itself, the soil maintains its fertility naturally, in
accordance with the orderly cycle of plant and animal life.
Reprinted from Masanobu Fukuoka. 1978. One Straw Revolution: Four Principles of Natural Farming.
Other India Press and Rodale Press.