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Natural Farming - Clay pellets to grow agro food products and revegetate deserts
International interest

In 1979 when Fukuoka was in the United States he understood intuitively that rain does not fall from the heaven; it rather springs forth from the ground. In 1986 during his second visit in the United States, the director of the Committee for Desertification of the United Nations in New York asked Fukuoka to develop a project for the prevention of the desertification in Iran and Iraq.

Since that time Fukuoka had been travelling for more than twenty years all over the world, leading efforts for the regreening of the deserts in Asia, Africa and Europe.

The Fukuoka’s farming method has gained recognition in the international scientific community.

More than twenty five years ago, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, after a long investigation, officially announced that Fukuoka’s method was the simplest and most effective method in growing grains and the best one from an economic point of view.

In Greece, the first effort for the reforestation of barren mountains and hills started in 1993 by a group of volunteers. They started realizing small sowings and in 1998, with the participation of Fukuoka himself, they organized a 10,000 hectares seeding, the largest ever realized. In 1999, they established the Natural Farming Centre in Klisohori, near the town of Edessa, in Northern Greece.

In 1999, they established the Natural Farming Centre in Klisohori, near the town of Edessa, in Northern Greece. Its goals are:
• Seeding in Greece and other Mediterranean countries in order to create a green belt from Portlugal to Iran, Iraq.
• Establishment of vegetable self-sufficiency gardens and natural farms in Greece and abroad.
• Collecting seeds in collaboration with individuals and groups for the realization of sowings.
• Practical workshops with students of Primary and Secondary school.

Every year, from August to mid-September, volunteers from different parts of the world make clay-balls for the realization of large sowings in Greece. Up to now, similar sowings have taken place: in India, on the initiative of the ex Prime Minister Raman Rao; in China, in cooperation with the Ministry of Forest; in Tanzania; Portugal; Italy; Argentina; and in other countries.