ORGANIC FARMING

Aomoris Miracle Apples

One Japanese apple farmer is currently attracting attention from the farming community not only
in Japan but around the world. This is because Akinori Kimura became the first modern farmer
to successfully cultivate apples without using any pesticides or fertilizers. Japan Echo spoke to him
to learn how he achieved this modern agricultural miracle.

here is an apple known

as the miracle apple.
It was made by Akinori
Kimura, an apple
farmer in the city of
Hirosaki in Aomori
Prefecture. The term miracle is
used to describe his apples because
they were produced without the
use of any pesticides or fertilizers,
a feat that was previously considered impossible in modern agriculture.
The extent to which farmers
rely on pesticides varies depending
on the crop, but in the case of apples damage from pests can reduce
a particular years crop by over
90% if pesticides are not used.
What is more, the trees are unable
to blossom or bear fruit the next
year. Two consecutive years of cultivation without using pesticides
can result in a crop of zero apples.
The reason why apple farming
is so dependent on pesticides is
that the sweet-tasting fruit we eat
today is the result of breed improvements that began in the nineteenth century, when pesticides
first appeared. Apple farmers today spray their crops with pesticides once a week. They are well
aware that a failure to do so would
result in their apples being devoured by pests. Even if pesticides
are used, any mistakes in the timing or method can result in damage to the apple trees. Without pesticides, it is unlikely that modern
apple trees would ever have seen

the light of day. That is why, when

Kimura declared his intention to
grow apples without using pesticides, the other apple farmers
around him were flabbergasted,
believing that he must have gone
mad.
Kimura was serious, however.
His original motive for taking on
the challenge of growing apples
without pesticides was the fact that
his wife, who worked in his orchard, is allergic to the chemicals.
It pained Kimura greatly that
spraying the pesticides would often leave her laid up in bed. He
therefore resolved to try growing
apples without spraying these
chemicalsno matter what anyone else thought.

A Long Journey
In the first year, 1975, Kimura began by applying pesticides just six
times a year, rather than suddenly
eliminating them altogether. He
was able to harvest his crop without any major problems, so the
next year he reduced the number
of sprayings to three, and then to
one the year after that. Despite
some pest damage, again he was
able to harvest the crop without
any major problems. Then, in
1978, Kimura attempted to grow a
crop completely free of pesticide.
The trees were struck by a disease
called alternaria blotch, however,
which caused all the leaves to fall
off. Despite being aghast at this re-

Akinori Kimura

April 2010 25

ORGANIC FARMING

sult, Kimura set about finding

something other than pesticide to
defeat the disease. He tried applying shochu (distilled liquor), salt,
grated garlicanything edible, in
factbut none of them had any
perceptible effect.
As Kimura was repeating this
process of trial and error, opposition to his effort from the surrounding community grew and
grew. Aomori Prefecture, where
Kimura lives, has a long-standing
ordinance regarding apple diseases
that instructs farmers to make
thorough use of pesticides to eliminate pathogens. Farmers who fail
to take proper measures can be
punished by forcible felling of their
trees and with a fine. The strict
rules reflect Aomoris status as the
source of 40% of Japans total apple
production. People from neighboring farms had been sympathetic to Kimuras effort at first,
but, fearing contamination from
the pests in his orchard, they began
to criticize him fiercely.
Financial difficulties exacerbated Kimuras plight. For an apple
farmer, no apples mean no income.
For six straight years he told himself, Lets try it one more year,
during which time his apple trees
grew weaker and weaker. Having
exhausted their savings, the Kimuras were forced into a life of bare
subsistence and borrowed money
left and right from consumer finance companies and relatives.
In the spring of 1985, the
leaves fell again, confirming that
there would be no crop that year.
Unable to see a way out, that summer Kimura went into the mountains intending to take his own life.
He had always gazed up at Mount
Iwaki from its foot; now he climbed
it for two hours before deciding
that he had walked far enough.
Looking around, he saw a tree that
seemed just right. He tried to

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throw the rope he had brought

with him over a suitable branch,
but it slipped out of his fingers and
flew off in a different direction. As
he walked down the mountainside
to retrieve the rope, an unusual
sight caught his eye. There stood
an apple tree, illuminated by
moonlight.
What is an apple tree doing
on a mountainside like this? he
wondered as he stared at his discovery. The tree was completely
different from those in his orchardhealthy, free of pests,
bursting with life. The surrounding area was filled with the fragrant
aroma of fertile soil, and when
Kimura pushed back the weeds,
some of which came up to his
shoulders, he found that the
ground underneath was soft and
moist, as if it had been laid with
cushions. At that moment, Kimura
was struck by a flash of inspiration.
This is the answer, he thought,
and returned home full of hope.
The next day, he went back to
the same spot and discovered that
the tree was actually a young oak,
not an apple tree. He also found
that the soil around it was completely different from that of his
own orchard. The tree taught him
that the key to growing healthy
apple trees was to create soil teeming with bacterial and fungal life.
Until then he had only paid attention to what was happening above
ground, such as by tracking the
state of his trees leaves and cutting
back weeds, but he now realized
that this had been a terrible mistake. This was Kimuras eureka
moment.
He pushed forward, convinced
that his apple trees would bear
fruit if only he could recreate the
mountain environment. While no
fertilizer is applied to a wild mountainside, rich soil is created as
fallen leaves and dead wood rot

and are broken down by microorganisms. To apply this process to

his apple field, Kimura left the various weeds at the base of his trees
to their own devices. The summer
of 1986, by which time the weeds
were growing tall, was the first
time that Kimuras apple trees did
not shed their leaves. Wild rabbits,
weasels, field mice, and other
fauna began to appear in the field.
Worms also moved in and started
excreting large amounts of waste
matter. The best way to maintain
the natural balance is simply to
leave everything to natures myriad
processes; humans can do little
more than help these processes to
run smoothly. Kimura watched
over his apple trees as they recovered, giving them only minimal assistance by planting soybeans
which are said to promote the
growth of fungi that provide nutrients to the soilat the base of his
trees, and spraying his field with
vinegar, which is thought to prevent major pest outbreaks. After 10
long years without a harvest, in
1987 his trees finally produced
apples.

A Complex Ecosystem
The soil in Mr. Kimuras apple
field teems with even more microorganisms than a wild patch of
ground left unattended, says Professor Shuichi Sugiyama of Hirosaki Universitys Faculty of Agriculture and Life Science. The
amazing thing about Mr. Kimuras
field is that its host to a complex
ecosystem that achieves a delicate
balance between so many different
organisms. Is it free of pests? No,
beneficial insects and harmful insects live there side by side. The
distinction between beneficial and
harmful organisms is entirely
manmade; no such categories exist
in the natural world. What can

ORGANIC FARMING

have a negative impact in the natural world is when one species multiplies to become abnormally
abundant, disturbing the complex
balance of the ecosystem. In that
sense, there are no organisms that
have a bad influence in Mr. Kimuras field. This is because Mr.
Kimura closely observes not only
his trees but the condition of the
soil and controls things so that the
complex ecosystem is not disturbed. This means that even when
there is an outbreak of disease,
there are mechanisms in place to
prevent major damage and minimize the impact.
Good soil doesnt need fertilizer, and healthy trees dont need
pesticides. Even in organic farming, disinfectants are sometimes
used as pesticide and cow dung
used as fertilizer, but vinegar is the
only outside agent used in Mr.
Kimuras natural farming method.
Nothing else. He leaves everything
to the workings of nature, providing only a helping hand. He has
successfully applied his method to
rice paddies and dry fields. I think
Mr. Kimuras method of farming is
totally unique.

Harnessing Natures Power

The apples produced by Kimura
are crisp and juicy. They contain a
lot of nectar and are extremely
tasty with just the right level of
sweetness and tartness. When
picked, they can be left for almost
a year without spoiling. Unlike ordinary apples, which soon go bad,
Kimuras fruit retains its freshness.
It is the sturdiness of his trees that
enables him to produce such highquality apples.
Using pesticide and fertilizer
on apples is like keeping a person
in an isolated hospital room and
pumping them with a continuous
stream of drugs and artificial nu-

trition, says Kimura.

The trees in my field
shed their leaves in
winter, but apple trees
in fields where pesticides and fertilizers
have been applied
keep their bright
green leaves even
during the cold
months. This is completely unnatural for
an apple tree. Such
trees may not get diseases, but neither can
they be described as
healthy.
That kind of
Shuichi Sugiyama
farming has helped The miracle apples grown by Kimura.
humankind to escape
from hunger, so one
cannot say its all bad. Today, howseven years ago to learn Kimuras
ever, I cant help thinking that the
methods. He visits the country evcontradictions of modern agriculery year to provide instruction,
ture are bubbling to the surface all
and this year saw the first successat once. Recently there have been
ful harvest of naturally grown apreports of pesticides and fertilizers
ples. A company called Natures
causing environmental problems
was founded to support Kimuras
like water pollution and the deactivities by coordinating his lecstruction of the ozone layer. Im
tures and workshops on natural
convinced that we are now enterfarming.
ing an era in which we must come
Hiroyasu Date, the companys
up with farming methods that harrepresentative, observes: I think
ness the energy of nature as much
Mr. Kimuras farming methods and
as possible and that do not involve
philosophy will be increasingly impesticides or fertilizersnot just
portant in overcoming global envifor food safety reasons but also
ronmental problems. Many people
from an ecological standpoint.
hesitate when taking up natural
In the past few years, the numfarming because they fear they will
ber of people sharing Kimuras enface a long period without income,
thusiasm for natural farming has
so we intend to consider establishbeen growing dramatically. His
ing a fund to provide financial asfarm has been featured frequently
sistance during that initial period.
on Japanese TV, and Kimura reWe want to find ways to spread Mr.
ceives a constant stream of invitaKimuras natural farming method
tions to give talks in regions all
around the world, instead of leavover the country. More than 500
ing it as something practiced by
farming heirs bring their fathers to
just one person.
seek Kimuras advice every year,
The seeds sown by Kimuras
and the farm also gets regular visits
miracle apples have the potential
from overseas. In South Korea, in
to inspire a global change in farmparticular, a movement began
ing attitudes.
April 2010 27