Book Review: Nature Farming and Microbial Applications

Journal of Environmental Quality 30:1857 (2001)

http://jeq.scijournals.org/cgi/content/full/30/5/1857

 

Edited by Hui-lian Xu, James F. Parr, and Hiroshi Umemura, Food Products Press, an Imprint of The Haworth Press, Inc., 10 Alice Street, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA. 402 p. $39.95. ISBN 1-56022-083-X. © 2001 American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America

Stephan Wirth Centre for Agricultural Landscape and Landuse Research (ZALF) Institute of Primary Production and Microbial Ecology Eberswalder Str. 84 D-15374 MŸncheberg, Germany


Nature farming has been applied repeatedly in Japan, India, Thailand, China, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and the United States, among other nations, as a chemical-free, organic farming technique specifically adapted to climate and agricultural management conditions. The present book is a special issue covering history, principles, and practical aspects of nature farming written by scientists from the International Nature Farming Research Center in Nagano, Japan and their co-workers from other universities and institutes, mainly from China, Japan, Canada, and Denmark. The book has been co-published as Journal of Crop Production, Volume 3, Number 1 (#5) 2000, emphasizing microbial inoculation and its effect on the growth and physiology of crops. The book consists of two parts: Part I, "Nature Farming" and Part II, "Microbial Applications." Part I includes 12 reports, beginning with the history, principles, and perspectives of nature farming. Nature farming was advocated by the Japanese philosopher Mokichi Okada in 1935 as part of a philosophy including aspects of human health, the protection of life, and the integrity of the natural world. No synthetic chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used in this farming system. Furthermore, animal and human manure, urban sewage, and other untreated wastes are prohibited from use as organic soil amendments, while composts from plant materials (e.g., rice straw, husks, and bran) or industrial processing wastes (e.g., oil mill sludge) are recommended. The principles of nature farming are based on five requirements: (i) production of safe and nutritious food ensuring good health, (ii) economical and spiritual benefit to both producers and consumers, (iii) sustainability and feasible practicability, (iv) conservation and protection of the environment, and (v) production of sufficient high-quality food for an expanding world population. Thus, research activities in nature farming concentrate on analyzing and sustaining soil quality, crop protection, raising livestock, and agricultural converting processes.

The first section on historical aspects of Nature Farming is followed by reports from a range of practical applications of nature farming in Japan and China, highlighting a diversity of special topics such as fertilization, soil conservation, pest control, soil reclamation, and improving fruit yields and quality. Each of the reports is well organized, clearly written, and presented in a journal article format, reflecting the expertise of the editors and their co-workers. Numerous and valuable literature references are cited, although some are hardly accessible. Part II includes 18 articles, covering direct and indirect effects of organic fertilizers and microbial inoculants in a broad variety of applications, such as biocontrol of pathogens and pests, effects on growth, yields and quality of fruit, and environmental protection. Other contributions specialize on methodologies including mathematical modeling, experimental analyses of photosynthesis, transpiration, and stress resistance of crops, and the suppression of malodors from poultry manure. Another focus is on applications of mycorrhizal associations, Rhizobium inocula, and microbial fertilizers to improve plant growth, productivity, and quality. A short index of six pages concludes the publication.

Thus, the book is a principal source of great interest to agronomists, microbiologists, soil scientists, environmentalists, and students. However, a single reader will only find a few parts of the book directly valuable for his or her work; thus I would recommend the book for libraries of institutes or research centers working in the field of organic farming, or agronomy with focal points in crop protection, plant nutrition, or Asian agronomy. The book may receive additional attention and more esteem concerning the current debate of reevaluation or changing strategies of agricultural production in the European Union, and the search for alternatives. However, the major drawback of the book is the diversity of aspects being described and the heterogeneity of reports, giving the book more the character of a proceeding. Moreover, reports have been published elsewhere.