Category — Asia

URL link to video here.

“The One Straw Revolution” published in 1978

In 1973, Larry Korn was under the tutelage of his Sensei (teacher), Masanobu Fukuoka, who lived in Shikoku Island, Japan. Korn received a hands-on education in the art of non-cultivation and do-nothing, natural farming. Translated in many languages, Masanobu Fukuoka wrote “The One Straw Revolution,” (New York Book Reviews), a classic memoir and guide.

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Manuel Mercado Lapid , popularly known as Lito Lapid, (born October 25, 1955 in Porac, Pampanga) is a Filipino actor, politician and Senator of the Republic of the Philippines.

The bill also tasks the Department of Science and Technology to study vertical farming

Excerpt:

An Act promoting the use of urban agriculture and vertical farming in the country’s metropolitan areas to address food security concerns and regenerate ecosystem functions appropriating funds therefor and for other purpose.

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

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Greenpeace radiation team experts Teule and Westwood check crops for contamination at a garden in Fukushima City.

The problem for Fukushima’s fishermen and farmers – and indeed, for many more people both inside and outside Japan – is that little is known what these contamination levels mean for food safety.

By Krista Mahr
Time Magazine blog
Apr 22, 2011

Excerpts:

By a road leading out of Iwaki, two elderly women sit on the ground in a verdant vegetable garden, eating dried fruit and enjoying one of the first warm days of spring. Behind them, a row of cherry trees is in bloom; in front of them, well-groomed rows of leafy napa cabbage and daikon soak up the sun. “We’re throwing everything away. We don’t even eat it ourselves.” says one of the women, a farmer wearing a green bonnet who declines to give her name but gamely admits she clocks in somewhere over 70.

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IFOAM Congress 26th September to 5th October, 2011 in the Republic
Korea.

Goals of the conference – Organic urban agriculture:

To discuss how to solve the issue of reduced farm land caused by urbanization in the world; to pursue agriculture accessible to urbanites in the urbanized area; and to discuss the conditions necessary for urban agriculture to perform positively. The main objective of this urban agriculture conference is to improve the natural environment of urban areas and to preserve healthy ecological systems.

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Nokia – HK Honey from The Silentlights on Vimeo.

Hong Kong honey

Directed by Kiku Ohe.
Produced by Exit Films as part of Nokia’s E7 Success Redefined campaign.
(Brilliant video. Mike)

Hong Kong is home to more than 7 million people. Amongst the high rise apartments, product designer Michael Leung founder of HK Honey, has created his own space bringing nature back into the metropolis one box at a time.

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Yu Neng Primary pupil Hui Ling Ler tending one of her school’s square watermelon plots. They are part of an initiative by The Living Project, which works with emerging gardens across Singapore and aims to source for corporate funding for them. Photo by Chew Seng Kim.

Trend of consuming local produce and urban farming

By Jessica Cheam
The Straits Times
March 22, 2011

Excerpt:

What’s interesting is this. Mr Eng said that in Singapore – from what he has seen recently – urban farming is spreading and now being perceived as “modern and cool”, with more people in Singapore wanting to embrace “nature-inspired lifestyles”.

There’s an irony here, in urbanites in Singapore taking to farming, probably for a brief escape from their busy city lives, while those in rural countries are ditching their farming jobs to pursue life in the cities.

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Rooftop garden in Bangladesh.

Nogor Krishor (Urban Farmer) Working for The Greenery of Dhaka City

By M.H.M. Borhannuddin Bhuyan
Info@nogorkrishok.org
March 22, 2011

If we look around, in our urban environment, we hardly ever find a fragment of the so-called “green belt”, let alone a vegetable patch or a shrub of juicy fruits. In this concrete jungle, of major cities sash as Dhaka and Chittagong of Bangladesh or even in the major cities of the Western World such as Landon and New York, it is essential for healthy living that we introduce what we lost in our villages through urbanization.

Nogor Krishok (Urban Farmer) is an agro-based organization involved in promoting urban agriculture in the major cities of Bangladesh like Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong through support for production of vegetables, flowers, fruits, ornamental and medicinal plants on roof top and the barren places of the home. The institution is managed by a team of experienced and highly skilled professionals in agriculture and senior experts.

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Though most of the family gardens are of 20 sq. meters to 500 sq. meters, products from such gardens contribute significantly to the food supply of the family.

By: Sushil Thapa
Email: ag.sushilthapa@gmail.com
March, 2011

In Nepal, urban and peri-urban agriculture (PUA) has been practiced since time immemorial and is a traditional way of life. The rate of migration from villages to the urban areas has increased significantly in the past decade especially, after the beginning of the armed conflict in the country. Hence, urban population has increased dramatically in all the urban areas. Rough estimates show that more than half of Nepal’s population will be living in urban and peri-urban areas by the year 2020. With increasing population, traditional agricultural systems in urban and peri-urban areas are changing and agriculture in and around the urban areas is becoming more market oriented compared to subsistence oriented rural agriculture.

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Roof deck veggie garden in Austin, TX, US. By Bercy Chen Studio LP.

“We can map these to identify areas for food production”

PNA
Feb 26, 2011

Director Silvino Tejada of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soil and Water Management said he plans to talk to owners and administrators of buildings in Metro Manila so the agency can help them and their tenants develop vegetable gardening even on roofdecks.

He said such action is needed since Metro Manila’s vegetable supply is jeopardized when calamities strike due to difficulty in raising and transporting the produce.

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Allotment Garden Project in Cagayan D’Oro, Philipines.

“We can farm 365 days a year so let us use this opportunity.”

By Jerome Carlo R. Paunan
PIA Press Release
February 22, 2011

MANILA, Feb. 22 (PIA) — The Department of Agriculture (DA) is set to launch next month its nationwide urban gardening initiative to help boost food security of the country.

According to Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, the public, especially the urban dwellers, must use every opportunity to grow their own food even in tight spaces only.

Alcala said growing vegetables in containers or vacant lots can be very helpful, particularly during catastrophes when transport of produce from farms becomes difficult and costly.

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Our gardener showed me three brooms he had made from the leaves of the coconut tree

By Preeti Patil
Natueco city farming
February 15, 2011

Excerpt:

Our coconut tree on the terrace was planted 10 years ago on the terrace, when we were totally inexperienced about farming activities. One of our staff members from the kitchen brought this sapling from his native village and so this tree established itself in these grey surroundings.It has been a sight of wonder and joy as people discovered it;s presence. Many wondered how the roots did not affect the slab, how the weight of the tree did not cause cracks etc…Although this tree has not yet given us any coconuts, it is a source of great joy. It is said that 1 coconut tree can sustain 1 family. I am not surprised.

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NARI officers and family members of Pat Newton discussing rice growing at Wagang village.

Lae urban village grows rice

By James Laraki of Nari
Malum Nalu
Feb 11, 2011

Excerpt:

An urban village in Papua New Guinea is the last place you will expect to find people growing rice.

You expect people from such villages to be getting their rice from the supermarket or village trade store.

Pat Newton from Wagang (Sipaia) village on the outskirts of Lae has decided to grow rice for his family consumption.

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By a Canadian in Kobe
Jan 27, 2011

Excerpt:

“Many people in Japan’s urban centers live in pretty cramped quarters. Even owning your own house doesn’t guarantee you will have enough space for a lawn or garden. It is actually quite rare to see a home in the city that has a front or back yard. Of course many people, especially seniors, come from more rural backgrounds and have a desire to keep their thumbs green. How do they do it? They maintain their desire for gardening by creating small garden plots wherever they can find the space.

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Monkey going after fruit at breakfast buffet. Photo by JakeChalkley.

“The snakes death of course was the signal for the most joyous chatterings and gambols.”

From a very old, undated, New York Times article

“The gentleman had a garden where he grew delicious fruit. The sacred monkeys easily scaled the walls and helped themselves. They were not content with simply eating, but amused themselves with throwing half-munched fruit at each other. To shoot these pests was out of the question, and to hit them with stones was impossible, as they easily dodged any missile that might be thrown at them.

An idea struck the Englishman one day, and he at once proceeded to carry it into effect with great success. He got a large basket of the largest potatoes that were to be found and had them boiled.

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Treadle pumps have enabled more than 1.5 million Bangladeshi farmers grow marketable produce. Photo by Ecoagriculture Partners.

Public comments on the subject using Facebook

By Iqbal Hossain Shimul
Igenius
January 24, 2011

“Iqbal Hossain Shimul from Bangladesh has opened up a 10 day online public comments survey via Facebook 21-31 January 2011. The surver focuses on whether urban agriculture planning or rural agriculture planning is best for a country. After 3 days, the feedback generated clearly shows most are of the opinion that both are equally important, but rural agriculture planning is most important because of the space afforded. This is an important dialogue at a time in our globally collected lives where we are all looking for information on how to save money, but also live sustainable lives.”

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Watering vegetables, surburb of Hanoi, January 2009. Photo by Jennifer Le.

Water morning-glory fetches them annual revenues of VND200 million per ha, three times higher than rice.

Ho Chi Minh City (HCM), Vietnam – urban agriculture success

Viet Nam News
Jan. 15, 2011

HCM CITY — A HCM City five-year programme to switch from traditional to urban farming has helped farmers increase their incomes, the city Farmers Association says.

Under the 2006-10 programme, the city encouraged farmers to shift from low-yield paddy to clean vegetables, flowers and ornamental trees and fishes.
Nguyen Van Phung, chairman of the association, said the average revenue from one ha of land increased to VND154 million (US$8,100) this year compared to VND50 million-138 million at the beginning of the programme five years ago.

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Farmers Planting the Rice, 1890s. Hand-colored albumen print. Author: Kimbei Kusakabe.

Japanese government to subsidize neophyte farmers

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Jan. 6, 2011

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has decided to offer 1 million yen annual grants to people who start farming after migrating from metropolitan areas to rural ones, the ministry said Wednesday.

Under the “U-turn, I-turn subsidy” program, the government aims to utilize uncultivated farmland and revitalize farming, which has been strained by declining numbers and advancing age.

“U-turn” is a name given to the phenomenon of people returning from metropolitan regions to their hometowns, and “I-turn” is the phenomenon of city-born people moving to rural areas in search of work.

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A tiny farm plot that will soon be tranformed to residential complexes. Photo by Tim Cheung.

Hong Kong villages at mercy of urban developers

By Tim Cheung
CNN Asia
4 January, 2011

Excerpt:

After decades of rapid urban development, farming villages like Ma Shi Po are on the verge of extinction in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong doesn’t strike people as a city that promotes a back-to-nature lifestyle and the brutal truth is younger generations here don’t always have the luxury of interacting with nature. Many have “probably never been to a farmland,” according to Sandy Chan, an amateur environmental advocate.

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Mr. Oki at his farm in Tosuka ward in Yokohama, Japan.

The City of Yokohama officially approved Oki’s farming methods in 2005

By CityNet Blog
Nov 25, 2010

Excerpt:

Currently in Japan, it is difficult to grow 100 percent organic vegetables, especially in urban areas as chemicals surround us – such as in our groundwater and air. Despite this, Toshiyuki Oki, has found a way to come as close as possible to truly organic vegetables in the urban centre of Yokohama. Oki, a retired businessman had a simple wish to grow safe vegetables and together with a special net to eliminate the need for pesticides and careful farming methods, he is making it happen.

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Yohsuke and Kumiko Itoh, with their 5-year-old daughter, Fumi, at Mochida Farms. They say Fumi has begun eating vegetables since they got they began farming on the weekends. Photo by Kenji Hall, For The Times / December 5, 2010.

More city dwellers are renting plots of land in the city or in nearby rural areas, where they grow their own vegetables and fruit. Underlying the trend is the philosophy of jisan jisho, or ‘local food for local consumption.’

By Kenji Hall
Los Angeles Times
December 6, 2010

Excerpt:

The rise of the weekend farmers coincides with an urban agriculture craze that’s turning once-barren city rooftops and verandas into plush gardens.

Underlying the trend is the philosophy of jisan jisho. A Kyoto farm-rental company claims to have coined the phrase, often translated as “local food for local consumption,” which means to eat food that you grow yourself and has its roots in the local food movement.

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