Takao Furuno of Furuno Farm, whose family is engaged in completely pesticide-free organic farming, was selected in 2000 by the Schwab Foundation in Switzerland as one of the ”most outstanding social entrepreneurs in the world.” We were curious to find out what kind of person he was, and went to visit him during our trip to Fukuoka.
After getting his Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Economics from Kyushu University, Furuno inherited his family farm and has been involved in organic framing to produce vegetables and rice from an early stage. At the beginning, he produced vegetables and rice without herbicides, but he was fighting a losing battles against weeds, which he had to pluck by hand. When he encountered rice-duck farming, he decided to adopt the methods. The ducks eat weeds and insects which are pests, and their droppings become nourishment for the rice plants. It seemed to be an ideal cycle until wild dogs began attacking the ducks.
Spreading the technology at home and abroad
He installed fences around the paddy fields, and tried nets and various other things, but it didn’t work out, and he was completely at a loss. Then he came up with the idea of using electric fences. The effects were outstanding, and ”Integrated Duck and Rice Farming” took off.
Nowadays, there are many farmers who adopt organic farming and rice-duck farming, but Furuno is one of the pioneers who established the technology. Currently, he is promoting ice-duck farming nationwide, and he also travels to various parts of Asia to relay the technology to the locals.
