  (2 february 1913 â 16 august 2008) was a japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his natural farming and re-vegetation of desertified lands. he was a proponent of no-till, no-herbicide grain cultivation farming methods traditional to many indigenous cultures,  from which he created a particular method of farming, commonly referred to as "natural farming" or "do-nothing farming".sustainable agriculture: definition and terms. special reference briefs series no. srb 99-02, september 1999. compiled by: mary v. gold, alternative farming systems information center, us department of agriculture setboonsarng, s. and gilman, j. 1999. alternative agriculture in thailand and japan. horizon communications, yale university, new haven, connecticut. online review version (retrieved 25 march 2014). {{cite journal | last = toyoda | first = natsuko | editor-last = | editor-first= | editor-link = | date = 2008 sept.âoct., nov.âdec.; 2009 jan.âfeb.; (2010 jan.âfeb.) | title = farmer philosopher masanobu fukuoka: (1) humans must strive to know the unknown; (2) what does natural farming mean?; (3) greening deserts by clay-ball seeding; (brief update) | journal = japan spotlight (promenade section) | volume = 161, 162, 163, (169) | publisher = japan economic foundation | location 
1913_births 2008_deaths Conservationists Japanese_educators Japanese_environmentalists Japanese_farmers Japanese_microbiologists Japanese_philosophers Japanese_writers Non-fiction_environmental_writers People_from_Ehime_Prefecture Permaculturalists Ramon_Magsaysay_Award_winners Religious_naturalists Sustainability_advocates Sustainable_food_system