Synopsis
Examines the state of modern agriculture and describes organic no-tillage agricultural techniques based on the interrelatedness of all nature
Review
Books represent food for the soul and that affirmation is especially valid for those that actually have something to teach us. One particular example could be given by `The One Straw Revolution', one of the most imposing and interesting books written by Masanobu Fukuoka, a true master in the field of natural farming. Many books have been written on this subject but none has managed to reach so many people, bringing new ideas and concepts in our lives, demonstrating clearly the advantages of natural farming. --By Mr. R. Cooke on 30 Oct. 2009
This was the second of 3 books (translated into English) by this amazing Japanese farmer and philosopher. Comparatively little-known here, Fukuoka (RIP) is famous in India, where his techniques are being used to revive desert areas. His keen observations of, and communion with nature, ultimately created, over the years, a natural farming technique requiring no machinery (no ploughing or digging, ever!) or fossil fuel, no chemicals, no prepared compost and very little weeding. Yields are comparable to the most productive farms. Natural farming creates no pollution and the fertility of the fields improves with each season. He calls it "do-nothing farming" but it is more like "do-little" (harvesting is the most laborious part of the year). Here, the author continues his critique of scientific farming practices, explaining why they can never succeed, and of how our belief that we know better than nature inevitably separates us more and more from everything, including ourselves and each other. Fukuoka explains that scientific farming attempts to correct and improve on what it perceives as the shortcomings of nature through human effort. Scientific experiments always take a single subject and apply a number of variable conditions to it while making some prior assumption about the results. Natural farming, however, pushes aside all conditions and, knocking away the precepts from which science operates, strives to find the laws and principles in force at the true source. Unchanging truth can be found only through experiments free of conditions, assumptions, and notions of time and space. When a problem arises, natural farming relentlessly pursues the root causes and strives to correct and restrain human action --By D&D TOP 50 REVIEWER on 17 April 2013
After reading the one straw revolution i really wanted to see how Fukuokas' system worked. I was not disapointed by this well layed out and functional guide to his methods. While his philosophy claims that no list of rules and time tables can acturatelly set out how natural farming should work, the publication of the hystory and methods of his experiment proves vital to the unhinging of common industrial theories on the subject. --By dan
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