Natural Farming with indigenous microorganisms (IMO) is a distinctive approach to organic farming practiced successfully in more than 30 countries, in home gardens and on a commercial scale. Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer/philosopher first began developing these techniques and Mr. Han Kyu Cho formulated and fine tuned these practices for over 40 years in South Korea and has trained over 18,000 people at the Janong Natural Farming Institute.
Natural Farming heals the soil slashed by chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and machines. Where Natural Farming is practiced, the soil and water become clean and ecology is recovered. It is even being used as a tool to fight desertification. Naturally farmed foods contain higher numbers of bionutrients. Protein, amino acid, crude fat and other essential nutrients were identified to be as much as 300 percent higher than ordinary products. Natural Farming focuses on the connections between human, animal, plant and microbial communities.
At its core, Natural Farming is the propagation and spreading of indigenous mycorrhizae onto the soil. Mycorrhizae are "fungus roots" and act as an interface between plants and soil. They grow into the roots of crops and out into the soil, increasing the root system many thousands of times over. They act symbiotically, converting with enzymes the nutrients of the soil into food the plants can use and taking carbohydrates from the plants and turning them into nutrients the soil can use: sequestering carbon in the soil for later use. Miles of fungal filament can be present in an ounce of healthy soil. Mycorrhizal inoculation of soil increases the accumulation of carbon by depositing glomalin, which in turn increases soil structure by binding organic matter to mineral particles in the soil. It is glomalin that gives soil its tilth, its texture and rich feel, its buoyancy and its ability to hold water.
Natural Farming is unique in that it is not meant to be commercialized, but rather practiced by individual farmers, with cheap, easily available ingredients, and microbes or mycorrhizae indigenous to each farm or locale. These microorganisms are:
Cultured in a simple wooden box with rice;
Mixed with brown sugar and stored in a crock or jar;
Further propagated on rice bran or wheat mill run;
Mixed with soil and cultured again.
The result is then mixed with compost, added to potting soil, or spread on beds before planting. The entire process takes three to four weeks. Other inputs and sprays are made simply and easily at home, which are then used according to the nutritive/growth cycle of the plants. Many of these inputs are made from plants that are easily harvested near or on your farm and other items which are routinely thrown out or composted, such as eggshells, animal bones and fresh fish wastes.
The benefits of using Natural Farming include:
Inputs are made from natural materials, which are not only safe for the environment, but actually invigorate and rehabilitate the soil ecology.
Increase crop yield and quality
Decrease costs and labor to farmers
Stronger, healthier and more nutritious plants
Zero waste
The basic tenets of Natural Farming include:
Observe Nature. Work with Nature
Do not till the land
Use of indigenous microorganisms (IMO)
Use fallen leaves or wood chips for mulch
Maximize the inborn potential
Do not use chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides
Zero emission of livestock wastes
Sow less, Yield more
Links:
One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
Natural Farming heals the soil slashed by chemical fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and machines. Where Natural Farming is practiced, the soil and water become clean and ecology is recovered. It is even being used as a tool to fight desertification. Naturally farmed foods contain higher numbers of bionutrients. Protein, amino acid, crude fat and other essential nutrients were identified to be as much as 300 percent higher than ordinary products. Natural Farming focuses on the connections between human, animal, plant and microbial communities.
At its core, Natural Farming is the propagation and spreading of indigenous mycorrhizae onto the soil. Mycorrhizae are "fungus roots" and act as an interface between plants and soil. They grow into the roots of crops and out into the soil, increasing the root system many thousands of times over. They act symbiotically, converting with enzymes the nutrients of the soil into food the plants can use and taking carbohydrates from the plants and turning them into nutrients the soil can use: sequestering carbon in the soil for later use. Miles of fungal filament can be present in an ounce of healthy soil. Mycorrhizal inoculation of soil increases the accumulation of carbon by depositing glomalin, which in turn increases soil structure by binding organic matter to mineral particles in the soil. It is glomalin that gives soil its tilth, its texture and rich feel, its buoyancy and its ability to hold water.
Natural Farming is unique in that it is not meant to be commercialized, but rather practiced by individual farmers, with cheap, easily available ingredients, and microbes or mycorrhizae indigenous to each farm or locale. These microorganisms are:
Cultured in a simple wooden box with rice;
Mixed with brown sugar and stored in a crock or jar;
Further propagated on rice bran or wheat mill run;
Mixed with soil and cultured again.
The result is then mixed with compost, added to potting soil, or spread on beds before planting. The entire process takes three to four weeks. Other inputs and sprays are made simply and easily at home, which are then used according to the nutritive/growth cycle of the plants. Many of these inputs are made from plants that are easily harvested near or on your farm and other items which are routinely thrown out or composted, such as eggshells, animal bones and fresh fish wastes.
The benefits of using Natural Farming include:
Inputs are made from natural materials, which are not only safe for the environment, but actually invigorate and rehabilitate the soil ecology.
Increase crop yield and quality
Decrease costs and labor to farmers
Stronger, healthier and more nutritious plants
Zero waste
The basic tenets of Natural Farming include:
Observe Nature. Work with Nature
Do not till the land
Use of indigenous microorganisms (IMO)
Use fallen leaves or wood chips for mulch
Maximize the inborn potential
Do not use chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides
Zero emission of livestock wastes
Sow less, Yield more
Links:
One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
