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What is

No-Till Farming ?No-Till Farming ?In the 1960's

a Japanese agri-cultural scientistcalled MasonobuFukuoka startedto ask himselfhow he couldreduce the cost ofhis farming meth-ods. He saw mostcosts in plough-ing, weeding,fertilizing andtransplanting paddy in his rice-wheat system. He spent thenext 30 years experimenting to perfect his methods of reduc-ing farming costs in these areas. But now, using his experi-ence, we can develop similar systems in a much shorter time.His methods are also called "farming of the sages", becauseof the deep spiritual base to his philospohy, and the fact thatnature is regarded with godly respect. His methods are basedupon natural systems, and farming practiced without harmingnature.

Farming with nature can be practiced with any farmingsystem, but the methods descibed in this chapter are particu-larly related to the rice and wheat system.

Fields not ploughed for 6 years,Sunrise Farm, Kathmandu, Nepal

The Farmers' Handbook, "The Fields" Chapter 3 - No Till Farming-

ditto straw clay

WhyWhy do No-TillFarming ?

2 3

to do No-TillFarming ?

1

4

3

2

HowHow

Materials Needed for No-Till Farming

Ploughingis crazy !

Masonobu Fukuoka

I'm a soil'sfriend

There are 3 main reasons forploughing:-

If we can achieve these needswithout ploughing, then whyplough ? This was Fukuoka's idea.A plough is never used in theforest, but the soil is always softand fertile. In fact, the more youplough, the more ploughing isneeded, as weed seeds are brought tothe surface and germinate. Ploughingleaves the earth bare, leaving micro-organisms and nutrients to be dried outby the sun, washed away by the rain, and blown away bythe wind. That's why it's difficult for farmers to get goodproduction even after so much hard and expensive workploughing, weeding, etc.

Farming without tillage does no harm to the environment.Without tillage, the natural soil life will keep the soil loose andfertile by itself, which also greatly lightens the farmer's work,and reduces cost.

• to aerate the soil;• to reduce weeds;• to mix organic matter

in the soil.

There are examples of traditional no-till systems. Oneexample is before cutting rice, lentils are sown and grownwithout ploughing.

In a good mulching system crops are grown withoutdigging, and by using some green manures such as velvetbean, no-till systems have been developed. More informationabout these are given in the Mulching and Green Manureschapters.

In this chapter information is given about a no-tillmethod of growing rice and wheat.

wheat and rice seed

wheat straw

whiteclover seed

This is the start of Fukuoka's method:-

rice straw well rottedcompost

After harvesting summer rice, plough one last time.

Mulch the wheat and clover with the straw from the rice crop.

Thickly sow clover seed.

Sow wheat seed.

The Farmers' Handbook, "The Fields" Chapter 3 - No Till Farming-$4 5

Let's SeeLet's See how to doNo-Till Farming

In this way, the wheat and clover germinate together.Wheat grows up above the clover, and clover grows on theground. Below the clover is the straw mulch.

Clover works as a green manure. By covering the soil, ithelps to smother weeds and conserve moisture. It also fixesnitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen made naturally like this does thesame work as urea fertilizer.

mulchstraw

weeding(if needed)

harvestwheat

sowrice

mulchstraw

restrictclover

(see p. 9)

harvestrice

sowclover

sowwheat

addcompost

This is a year's calendar ofwork for the no-till method

This is the best place tostart, and go round

clockwise

Materials needed:straw, grain and clo-

ver seed, compost.

clover seedclose up

how to doNo-Till Farming

The Farmers' Handbook, "The Fields" Chapter 3 - No-Till Farming6 7

Sowingwheat After wheat,

sow clover

Cover everythingwith rice straw

Spread alittle compost

Clover germinatingin the wheat

Here the wheat isripe and underneath

the clover is green

This shows thewheat growingwith clover un-

derneath

After wheatis cut, sowrice and

mulch withwheat straw

The Farmers' Handbook, "The Fields" Chapter 3 - No Till Farming-8 9

How tomaintain a

No-Till SystemClose up ofwheat and

clover grow-ing together.

After harvestingrice, the wheat is

sown withoutploughing.

Before sow-ing, soak

wheat andrice seed and

mix with pow-dered clay.

While mixing,spray with water

This makes a clay coataround the seed whichprotects it from birds.

Another method isshown on p.10.

As the wheat ripens, any weeds should be removed. Atfirst, more weeds will grow, but after the thick ground-coverof clover grows, and without tilling, weeds will reduce.

Sow rice after the wheat is harvested. As the rice grows,there is a danger that it will be smothered and prevented fromgrowing by the thick ground cover of clover. There are 3ways of preventing this :-

1. Flood the field for 10-12 days. This weakens the clover andthe rice can grow through and above it. Then drain thewater. The ground cover of clover will recover, and the ricewill have grown away from its competition.

In the summerrice is flowering,while underneathclover is doing the

weed control.

MaintenanceMaintenance

The Farmers' Handbook, "The Fields" Chapter 3 - No Till Farming-10

2. If there is a shortage of water as the rice is germinating,allow livestock to graze the clover. But only allow thisonce, for a short time, and then remove the livestock. Theywill eat down the clover, so the rice can grow up and away.The clover will again recover as the ground layer.

3. After sowing the rice, the clover can also be cut. It can beused as a fodder for livestock, or as a mulch. Then add thewheat straw mulch, and weed as necessary.

Another method ofcoating seed withclay. Here, clay ismade into a thickpaste, mixed withrice or wheat seed,and pressed through

a 5mm seive.

Try your own researchThere are many ways of working with nature to

reduce work such as ploughing, weeding, etc. The mostimportant thing is to understand the principles of themethods. Instead of wheat, barley or oats can be used.Timing will be different for different places and climates.It may be better to sow the rice before the wheat is cut, orsow wheat before rice is cut. This method may seem diffi-cult at first, but this is no reason to give up. Try it out firston a small plot, and increase the area as experience grows.

æ

Æ

Mrs SanumaiyaShrestha

Mrs SanumaiyaShrestha lives at SunriseFarm in Sita Paila-4,Kathmandu, Nepal. Shehas experience in no-tillfarming, so let's hear herstory.

Mrs Sanumaiya Shrestha

I really like the no tillmethod. Wheat and cloverare sown together and cov-ered with the rice straw,which also helps to protectthem from birds. Then, if there's no rain, we may need toirrigate. Rice is sown in just the same way, without having toraise the seedlings in a nursery. The day before sowing eitherrice or wheat, I soak the seeds to help them germinate quicker.As soon as rice is cut, I sow the wheat, and as soon as thewheat is cut, I sow the rice. Sometimes a little weeding maybe needed, but not often. There's more weeds at the begin-ning, but much less later on. Now all the work of digging issaved. Before, we did all the digging and the yieldwas the same, and now we get the same yield with-out the digging. Doing less work to get the sameyield must be a good method, isn't it?

Farmers'ExperienceFarmers'Experience

11

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Subjects Related to No-Till FarmingThis book provides enough information for you to be

able to try your own No-Till Farming. However, this informa-tion is also linked to other methods. For extra benefits let'sread, learn and practice from other related chapters.

Agroforestry chapterOnly when there's a plentiful supply of fodderfrom the land can the straw from grain crops beused for mulch in a no-till method. In this chap-ter, read about how to integrate trees on farms .

Mulching chapterMulch keeps the soil covered, keeps weeds downand conserves water. This chapter shows how tomulch the soil while still growing other crops.

Green Manures chapterBy sowing green manures with crops, fertil-ity is increased and with less work there aremore benefits. Learn how in this chapter.

Read On !Read On !

This booklet’s authorChris Evans, advisor,Himalayan Permaculture Group, Nepalwww.designedvisions.com