The One-Straw Revolution - Multiworld India

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farmers used to compost the straw carefully all winter long to be surethat it would be completely decomposed by the following spring. That iswhy Japanese farmers have always kept their fields so neat and tidy. Thepractical knowledge of everyday life was that if farmers left straw lyingaround, they would be punished by heaven for their negligence.After years of experimentation, even technical experts have now,confirmed my theory that spreading fresh straw on the field six monthsbefore seeding is completely safe. This overturned all previous ideas onthe subject. But it is going to be a long while before the farmers becomereceptive to using straw in this manner.Farmers have been working for centuries to try to increase theproduction of compost. The Ministry ofAgriculture used to give incentive pay to encourage compostproduction, and competitive compost exhibitions were held as annualevents. Farmers came to believe in compost as though it were theprotective deity of the soil. Now again there is a movement to make morecompost, “better” compost, with earthworms and “compost-starter.”There is no reason to expect an easy acceptance of my suggestion thatprepared compost is unnecessary, that all you have to do is scatter freshunshredded straw across the field.In traveling up to Tokyo, looking out the window of the Tokaidotrain, I have seen the transformation of the Japanese countryside.Looking at the winter fields, the appearance of which has completelychanged in ten years, I feel an anger I cannot express. The formerlandscape of neat fields of green barley, Chinese milk vetch, andblooming rape plants is nowhere to be seen. Instead, half-burned straw ispiled roughly in heaps and left soaking in the rain. That this straw isbeing neglected is proof of the’ disorder of modern farming. Thebarrenness of these180
fields reveals the barrenness of the farmer’s spirit. It challenges theresponsibility of government leaders, and clearly points out the absenceof a wise agricultural policy.The man who several years ago talked about a “merciful end” to thegrowing of winter grain, of its “death by the side of the road” what doeshe think now when he sees these empty fields? Seeing the barren fieldsof wintertime Japan, I can remain patient no longer. With this straw, I, bymyself, will begin a revolution !The youths who had been listening silently were now roaring withlaughter.“A one-man revolution! Tomorrow let’s get a big sack of barley,rice, and clover seed and take off, carrying it on our shoulders, likeOkuninushi-no-mikoto,(‘The legendary Japanese god of healing whotravels around tossing good fortune from a large sack which he carriesover his shoulder.) and broadcast seeds all over the fields of Tokaido.”“That’s not a one-man revolution,” I laughed, “it’s a one-strawrevolution”Stepping out of the hut into the afternoon sunlight, I paused for amoment and gazed at the surrounding orchard trees laden with ripeningfruit, and at the chickens scratching in the weeds and clover. I then beganmy familiar descent to the fields.181
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Extraido de ZEMOS98http://www.zemos
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The One-Straw Revolutionby Masanobu
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A Merciful Death for Barley ……
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viii
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Fortunately for us our printer frie
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maximum per acre yields. But the ba
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squashes and other vegetable by dib
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all needed resources to grow plants
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Invariably our peasant visitors wer
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We would broadcast clover seed in a
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stayed long enough at his farm to l
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knack for appearing at times when t
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are distributed over the field, whi
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This yield is approximately the sam
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ooks and magazines, and was intervi
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hole in the soil with a stick or a
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The Japanese, mikan, is translated
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xxxvi
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xxxviii
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Look at this GrainI believe that a
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In early November, the rice is harv
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Since what I was thinking was a den
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movie star!" Right away, I sent ten
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and sparkling. I felt that this was
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Returning to the CountryOn the day
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whatsoever. I could only think of t
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Toward a Do-Nothing FarmingFor thir
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form, pruning and insect exterminat
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Returning to the SourceLeaning agai
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from nature, they spin out further
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the sprayed fields. Then it dawned
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Humanity Does Not Know NatureLately
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It is impossible for specialized re
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as it sometimes does, you might not
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that the plow is essential for grow
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the first place. The farmer also ha
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Using straw, green manure, and a li
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of their "remedy" If the situation
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and rye can be successfully grown w
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First the unhulled rice seed is soa
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or lupine might prove a more suitab
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next year and reported that the tes
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Threshing the crop with the traditi
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Straw Helps to Copewith Weeds and S
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Rice plants grown in a dry field do
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should and that it has the ideal sh
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Orchard TreesI also grow several va
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that, the problem will generally ta
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90 pounds and more was a big job, b
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cutting back the weeds [During the
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animal manure and human waste, thin
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Chinese leeks, once planted, will c
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The Terms for Abandoning ChemicalsT
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hundred plants, ten or twenty perce
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Limits of the Scientific MethodBefo
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You hear a lot of talk these days a
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eaching action could be decided upo
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A Modest Solutionto a Difficult Pro
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uilt as well. When solutions develo
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ten to twenty times higher than sea
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that is not fresh can be sold becau
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At this point the question arises a
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Commercial Agriculture Will FailWhe
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trees. Furthermore, the white legho
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Research for Whose Benefit?When I f
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No matter how hard people try, they
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them, the taste was completely diff
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eyond compare. Even moths, if you s
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Each person should ponder seriously
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nationwide by the government's agri
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production is again being advocated
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Simply Serve Nature and All Is Well
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making money, expanding, developing
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there will be enough food to eat, i
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If you look across the country you
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West takes as its point of departur
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120
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122
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Japan originated with the teachings
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When I had gone this far, the youth
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Farming, fishing, animal raising, t
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Page 174 and 175: Millet cakes are enjoyed at the aut
Page 176 and 177: The Culture of FoodWhen asked why w
Page 178 and 179: food's flavor may vary, depending o
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Page 182 and 183: One might suppose that Western diet
Page 184 and 185: Summing Up DietIn this world there
Page 186 and 187: and consciously sustained. But if t
Page 188 and 189: mind. I hoped that the food mandala
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Page 194 and 195: There are no modern conveniences. S
Page 196 and 197: People think that when they turn th
Page 198 and 199: Who Is the Fool?It is said that the
Page 200 and 201: “If you did nothing at all the wo
Page 202 and 203: I Was Born to Go to Nursery SchoolA
Page 204 and 205: that this rice, because it possesse
Page 206 and 207: Drifting Cloudsand the Illusion of
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Page 210 and 211: structure is broken down, earthworm
Page 212 and 213: That night as we were finishing the
Page 214 and 215: A Village Without War and PeaceA sn
Page 216 and 217: “In nature, the world of relativi
Page 218 and 219: the hated enemy. For humans, the fi
Page 220 and 221: The One-Straw RevolutionAmong the y
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