We have already told you about Masanobu Fukuoka and his most famous book» The straw yarn revolution “Now we present another very interesting text: the organic farm .
It is a truly complete manual that starts from a lucid analysis of the current world and the role of modern agriculture (the title of the first chapter “Agriculture in the hour of suffering” is emblematic. ) to move on to natural farming theory. , a first theoretical manifesto (third chapter) then practical (fourth chapter).
Fukuoka introduces more in-depth cultivation techniques already offered in » The straw yarn revolution “. The Organic Farm, published by Edizioni Mediterranee, is a book that teaches us to free ourselves from many unnatural agricultural practices, to try to interfere as little as possible with the natural development of crops. It will no longer be necessary to pull weeds, poison the soil with chemicals, compost, plow the garden soil, prune fruit plants, kill insects.
With simple steps to maintain natural harmony, you can maintain fertile soil and a healthy ecosystem that can yield great results. While modern agriculture scientifically exploits the soil and depletes it, making farmers dependent on fertilization, the natural method offered by Fukuoka is to take care of the environment by eating its fruits, it is sustainable over time without any type of fertilizer.
There are four pillars of Fukuoka’s theory:
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Do not till so as not to kill aerobic microorganisms that live in the upper part of the soil.
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Do not fertilize, just mulch organic matter and bury green waste.
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Do not weed, weeding is limited to leaving an area of respect that allows the plant that interests us to live and for this reason more padding.
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Don’t kill the pests. In a stable ecosystem, each element has its predators and a harmonious balance is maintained.
In the book you will find many tips studied over the years by Fukuoka, accompanied by diagrams and drawings and a series of color photos in the center of the book that take us for a moment into the agricultural reality of Japan. Of course, certain indications born in Japan are not valid for an Italian orchard, but many others will be very useful for learning a different mode of cultivation and this book is to be read because it is the manifesto of a thought which is at the base of many schools of culture, such as permaculture and synergistic agriculture. If you are interested in this book, you can buy it on this page or via Amazon.