Fukuoka and Scientific Farming

 

After his realization, Mr Fukuoka left his job in Yokohama and went back to his farm, to try to put what he had understood into practice.

Agriculture had by that time become, in Japan and across much of the rest of the world, a very complicated business. Scientists had discovered ever new ways of extracting better yields from the land. First came the mechanization of the sowing and tilling processes. This reduced the work on a farm to such an extent that machines were taken up by farmers all over Japan. After a few years, however, it was discovered that the soil was becoming exhausted through over-exposure and over-working, and that fertility was decreasing. The scientists invented chemical fertilizers to counteract the problem. But the crops that grew nourished by external fertilizers were weak, more prone to disease. Also, the natural biosphere of the fields - the microorganisms and worms in the soil; the insects, spiders and mice within the field; the birds in the air - had long since disappeared. Plagues of insects could therefore decimate crops completely unhindered by natural predators. Chemical pesticides were created to counteract the problem. But the pests became immune. New and stronger kinds of chemicals were invented. A huge global industry, now worth many billions of dollars, was invented.

This was the state of rural Japan when Mr Fukuoka returned to his farm. With his understanding of the insufficiency of human intellectual knowledge, he saw that the scientists' efforts to control nature and extract ever higher yields from her, was madness. He knew that it was doomed to failure. All around him he saw the pollution of the environment and the disappearance of wildlife from the land.