Lessons from Nature

By Shimpei Murakami, one of Masanobu Fukuoka's direct students.

Thoughts

We can replenish soil organic matter lost to harvest by attracting wildlife which concentrates organic matter there through their poop. Let ducks loose in the field and they'll convert insects into poop. Throw a few seeds in the field every now and then to make some birds come through and poop while they look for them (even better, occasionally throw nothing or rocks, and do it unpredictably so you positively reinforce the behaviour of searching for seeds).

Understanding how abundances of pests appear when the ecological pyramid is broken.

For instance, so-called harmful insects are consumers of the first order (herbivores) that eat producers (green plants) directly. However the number of insects is controlled by consumers of the selond order (bird, frog, spider, etc.) and kept within certain limits. Therefore, the insects never eat up all the green plants in the natural forest. The second are eaten by consumers of the third order (snake, etc.) and the third are eaten by top carnivores (eagle, tiger etc.). In this way, each order of consumer is naturally held to certain limited numbers by the control of upper orders and the quantity of food supply from lower orders. Consequently, the shape of the ecological pyramid is formed by the numbers of each order and the producer ind show very clearly that the basic foundation are the producers. If the producers increise in number, the consumers can also increase in numbers. But a decrease in producers results in a decrease in consumers.

This relationship (eating and being eaten) between producers and consumers is called the food chain. The food chain is an ecosystem which is very delicately balanced and disturbances at any one stage upsets this. For example, if snakes are destroyed in large number for their skin, then mice and rats would proliferate. If frogs decrease greatly in number for export of frog legs, an increase in the population of insects and a reduction in crop yield would result.

Part 1: Background
1. Nature and Agriculture
  1. The Ecosystem of the Natural Forest
    - The ecological pyramid. Extremely important to understand why certain "pests" appear.
    - The important rules of agriculture
      1. The main source of energy for the production of carbohydrates is the sun. Maximum utilization of sun energy is most important for agricultural production.
      2. It is only green plants which can use sun energy to produce carbohydrates. The degree of utilization of sun energy is dependent on the quantity of green plants.
      3. The source of fertility (minerals, humus etc.) is organic matter which contains micro-organisms. A supply of organic matter is indispensable for soil improvement through fertilization.
      4. Every living thing interacts and there is nothing which is unnecessary and harmful in nature.
    - Biomass production is highest in tropical rain forests, but tropical areas curiously degrade faster under industrial methods. Tropical areas have a higher rate of change; they can be rehabilitated or destroyed quickly. All the water falls in one monsoon or wet season (extreme rainfall), so the ecosystem has to be in very good shape to hold onto this water. Most (90%) of the living biomass is stored in living things (vs the soil, which is 10%) in a tropical zone, whereas in temperate zones it's about 50:50.
  2. Differences between Agriculture and the Natural Forest
  3. Water
  4. Characteristics of the Tropical Ecosystem
2. Soil
  1. What is Soil?
  2. The Functions and Qualities of the Soil
    - The functions of soil in agriculture are:
      1. Supports plants
      2. Holds and supplies nutrients, water and air to plants
      3. Provides a healthy condition for plants to grow
    - Optimal soil can be broken down into:
      1. Physical qualities
        
        Good structure
        
        High water holding capacity (ie clay)
        
        High drainage (ie sand)
        
        Optimal moisture
        
        40% solid (5% of this is humus), 30% water, 30% air.
      2. Chemical qualities
        
        Rich in nutrients
        
        Nutrient-holding capacity is often measured with Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), aka conductivity. Colloids are mediums that suspend microscopic particles (ie minerals). Humus is the highest-quality (and most conductive) colloid, and is the deciding factor in whether soil can hold nutrients.
        
        Industrial farms require more chemical fertiliser over time because industrial practices reduces the nutrient-holding capacity of the soil.
        
        Regulated pH between 5.5 - 7.5 (ideally 7)
        
        Humus regulates soil pH. Industrial fertiliser is acidic, which cannot be offset without tradeoffs (ie calcium application).
      3. Biological qualities
        
        High in biological activity
        
        Microbes produce humus in decomposition and release minerals in mineralisation. The more microbes, the more humus and available food for plants. Microbes feed on organic matter.
        
        Most microbes are neutral or beneficial, eg only 2% of nematodes are harmful, and some of the other 98% minimise the harmful ones.
        
        The bacteria / fungi ratio should be about 90 : 10. Nearly 90% of plant diseases are caused by fungi.
        
        Well-balanced microbe diversity and bacteria / fungi ratios are created by sufficient quantity and types of organic matter supply, as well as minimised disturbing factors (interruptions of this).
3. Problems with Chemical Agriculture
  1. Ecological Problems
  2. Economic Problems
  3. Social Problems
4. Principles of Ecological Agriculture
  1. Diversity
  2. Living Soil
  3. Recycling
  4. Multi-Story Structure
  5. Pictures
    - Pictures of ecological agriculture in Bangladesh. This is incredibly helpful because it shows you a reference for the diversity and abundance of plants, as well as particular species you can use to fulfil specific functions. For example:
      - Lemongrass for erosion on the farm boundary and to produce mulch for yet uncovered-areas
      - Grass pea for green manure
      - Black gram that was cut and dropped before caulfiflower planting in the same field
      - Leucana and timber trees for windbreaks, fuel for fires
      - Flamengia on the border of a field to provide mulch/compost material for that field
      - Turmeric and ginger are shade tolerant plants
      - Water lilies purify and oxygenate ponds
    - Photo 21 notes mustard, radish and potato as a traditional practice in India that minimises pest attack. This might be akin to Fukuoka's recommendation to sow mustard, radish and clover on degraded land.
Part 2: Practical Methods
5. Soil Fertilization and Conservation p-47
1. The Principles of Soil Fertilization and Conservation
1. Regular supply of organic matter. You need about 8000kg/acre (about 2kg/m^2) of organic matter a year to maintain quality soil fertility. For soil degraded by chemicals, you should initially add another 16,000kg/acre
2. Keep the soil covered by vegetation or organic matter.
3. Raw (not well decomposed) organic matter should not be mixed with the soil. This feeds harmful fungi, increases acidity, produces methane (harmful for plant roots) and consumes air from soil. All of these cause pest problems.
4. Plant trees and grasses in the boundary areas. Prevents excessive run off and rain damage, becomes a source of organic fertiliser (or fuel, fruits, timber etc) and acts as a windbreak.
5. No use of agricultural chemicals.
1. Fertiliser acidity disturbs microbes, pesticide kills them.
2. Creating an imbalance of microbes causes pest problems.
3. Fertilisers imbalance nutrients, causing disease and pest attack.
2. Mulch with Less Tillage
1. As opposed to tilling, you could mulch; cover the soil with organic matter.
2. Benefits
1. Physical soil structure. Mulch provides soil (run-off) protection and additional water holding capacity (intercepted rain does not compact soil; develops crumble structure to retain more moisture; prevents evaporation).
2. Gradual fertilisation (micronutrients)
3. Weed control. 5cm thick mulch controlled 90% of the weeds at Proshika farm.
4. Less labour.
3. Disadvantages
1. Mulching in the rainy season can cause harmful fungi. This can be offset by using high C/N ratio grasses, by drying the mulch first (aka cut on a dry day), and by continuously mulching throughout the rainy season.
2. Obstructs broadcast seeding. Thick mulch can delay the time before broadcast seeds will sprout.
4. Mulch material. You need to choose and plan your mulch material carefully (especially if grown on site).
- For soil protection in rainy season with reduced fungal risk, use high C/N ratio matter eg lemon grass, coconut leaves
- For soil fertilisation, use low C/N ratio matter (ie high nitrogen) eg leguminous grasses/leaves, legume crop residue, compost
5. Living mulch.
- Avoids then need to collect mulch, has lasting soil protection, and leguminous grasses supply nitrogen needs for crops.
- Fukuoka used clover in the rice field and orchard for mulching purposes, implying that Fukuoka did indeed weed, he just did it on the spot.
6. Cover crop.
- A type of living mulch for covering vegetation in the hot dry summer season (between growth seasons).
- Though the terms "living mulch" and "cover crop" are often used interchangeably, I like Shimpei's distinction.
- Seem (dolichos lablab) is a very effective cover crop in summer.
- Velvet bean has excellent potential as a cover crop.
3. Green Manure
- Growing particular plants (legume grasses) for a couple months and then mulching to return all of their biomass to the soil as organic fertiliser.
4. Compost
5. Planting Trees and Grasses along the Boundary
7. The Cropping System
1. The Problems with the Present Cropping System
2. An Alternative Cropping System
3. Diverse Cropping
4. Crop Rotation
5. Mixed Cropping
8. Pest Management
1. What is the Pest and What is the Problem?
2. The Vicious Cycle of Chemical Pest Control
3. Natural Pest Management
4. Weeds
9. Self Seed Production
1. Problems with HYV, Hybrid (F1) and Purchased Seeds
2. Advantages of Self Seed Production
3. The Process for Self Seed Production
Reference
1. Reference Tables
2. Reference Books