The One-Straw Revolution
An Introduction to Natural Farming: The Visionary Modern Classic
77% recommend23% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Short, easy-reading introduction to natural, do-nothing farming that argues tilling and heavy inputs are unnecessary. Inspiring for anyone drawn to permaculture, soil health, and a simpler life close to the land.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Leaving a career as a plant pathologist, the author took over the family farm in Japan consisting of rice fields and a mandarin orchard, where he developed and practiced pioneering methods of permaculture well before the term itself was coined. His account of his Zen-inspired way of sustainable agriculture has become a classic in the literature of permaculture.
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…over the years. He has a video in there where he recommends a series of books that he learned from, like Albert Howard's "An Agricultural Testament," Sepp Holzer's "Permaculture," and Masanobu Fukuoka's "One Straw Revolution." I've gotten started reading the first two and they're really great books.
on “Monsanto’s Weed Killer, Dicamba, Divides Farmers” ↗Agreed. Fukuoka's classic The One Straw Revolution is also excellent reading. He was a trained biologist who then moved toward a more holistic and philosophically based approach to land management, reaping huge benefits. You can view his work as agricultural…
on “How to Grow a Forest Really Really Fast” ↗Not to dispute your assertions, but perhaps it's worth looking at an alternate viewpoint. I found Masanobu Fukuoka's "The One-Straw Revolution" quite compelling. In it, Fukuoka argues for finding ways to diversify plant variety, improve soil quality and fertilization, manage pests such that external input (mechanization, fertilizers, pesticides,…
on “Healthy soil is key to feeding the world” ↗…negativity directed toward anyone who has the dream of growing their own food is often coming from a conventional mindset. There are alternative approaches. A few great books are "Permaculture" by Mollison, "One Straw Revolution" by Fukuoka, "Restoration Agriculture" by Shephard. As I mentioned elsewhere in the thread, it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing – you can start with some perennial herbs on your balcony. Larger scale,…
on “‘Less than half’ fresh produce sold globally makes any profit” ↗…discipline of agricultural science with lots of literature and knowledge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_biology But if you want me to point to one person / literature specifically then again read the one straw revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka > In contrast to the monoculture the author is advocating for They are advocating for "Industrial Literacy" but they have not read any literacy from modern day agricultural sciences…
on “Industrial Literacy” ↗…our conventional tilling and monocultures destroy soil biology read the plowmans folly. I also talked about natural systems which is the same idea as Natural farming, specifically you should read the one straw revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. Plants and nature are more productive when left alone from human intervention in cycles of death and rebirth and natural farming is about setting up these cycles in a system that…
on “Industrial Literacy” ↗…plant+sunlight Really, nature amazes me to no end, to the point that i hate my engineering knowledge ... i truly concern that my creation will be inferior to nature For reference, the natural books: one straw revolution: masanobu fukuoka the power of duck: takao furuno ecology of the planted aquarium:diana walstad
on “Y Combinator Challenge #27 - Hardware/software hybrids” ↗…this seems to include both academia and government bodies in charge of agricultural knowledge dissemination. The most lucid illustrations of this quandry I have yet encountered are Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution (a few decades ago) and the USDA's Alley Cropping instructional video series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8Kwb5yInPM Basically, the claim is that higher yields with lower maintenance are possible…
on “Tractors Are Getting Smarter” ↗If anyone hasn't read it, check out The One Straw Revolution, and compare to this approach.
on “Startup Puts Everything You Need for a Two-Acre Farm in a Shipping Container” ↗…https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2225725.Agricultural_Tes... Sepp Holzer's Permaculture: A Practical Guide to Small-Scale, Integrative Farming and Gardening - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10023218-sepp-holzer-s-p... Masanobu Fukuoka - The One-Straw Revolution - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/976905.The_One_Straw_Rev... --- You can read these books at archive.org. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.270767 https://archive.org/details/SeppHolzersPermacultureAPractica...…
on “Monsanto’s Weed Killer, Dicamba, Divides Farmers” ↗…if nothing is done to break up the agricultural economic complex controlled by the multinational companies only interested in profit. A good book published in 1975 written by Masanobu Fukuoka called "One Straw Revolution" is very informative on this subject easy reading and obtainable for free by searching it's title followed by .pdf in your favorite S.E.
on “Can American soil be brought back to life?” ↗I will definitely read it, thanks. Related, i can't recommend enough "The One-Straw Revolution" by Masanobu Fukuoka for people interested in that topic and don't know about it. https://archive.org/details/The-One-Straw-Revolution/page/n1...
on “Introduction to Permaculture (1994)” ↗The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. It's an autobiography that uses permaculture to inspire a simple life.
on “Ask HN: Life Changing Books?” ↗A book that talks about this at a different level is One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka that follows the idea of Do Nothing Farming https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_farming
on “Shrinking Mississippi River Puts American Farm Trade at Risks” ↗This technique has been used in Japan. It’s documented in “One Straw Revolution” by Masanobu Fukuoka published 1970s. In the book he also documented increased yields. Note: It a wonderful book, nice read.
on “Bali rice experiment cuts greenhouse gas emissions and increases yields” ↗