Konkuk University, Seoul · October 5–7, 2016

Natural Science Farming Symposium 2016

A day of talks in Seoul, then two days on the farms. 23 talks, three languages. Master Cho's students from ten countries showed what natural farming did on their fields, from Afghan potatoes to Hawaiian macadamias. Every talk is translated, checked line by line, and boiled down to what was tested and what happened.

Read what it all adds up to →

Also on the record: Hilo 2015

Topics microbes soil economics pigs poultry rice history corn food scale disease feed health minerals protectors reproduction Clear

3 talks on “pests”

Ahmad Jawid Zamany ·Afghanistan ·14 min

Natural-Farmed Tomatoes Fruited a Week Sooner, Yielded More

A one-season tomato trial (cv. Sunglove) in Paju compared Natural Science Farming, organic and conventional plots. The natural plots started slower but ended with taller plants, more leaves, longer roots, first harvest about a week earlier and the highest marketable yield: 3.80 kg per plant against 3.42 organic and 3.12 conventional. They also scored lower for blossom end rot and insect damage and higher for taste and appearance.

Found Highest marketable yield: 3.80 kg/plant vs 3.42 organic and 3.12 conventional

fruit quality microbes pests tomato yield

Ahmad Jawid Zamany ·Afghanistan ·6 min

Natural Eggplant: More Fruit, Fewer Insects, Keeps Longer

The companion to the speaker's tomato trial: eggplant (cv. Black Horse) in Paju under Natural Science Farming, organic and conventional systems, same design. The natural plots gave the most marketable fruit, 4.08 kg per plant against 3.56 organic and 3.1 conventional, had far fewer insects, and their fruit took longer to spoil and scored higher for taste and Brix. One season, small plots.

Found Most marketable fruit: 4.08 kg/plant vs 3.56 organic and 3.1 conventional

eggplant fruit quality microbes pests shelf life yield

Lemnsah Andrew Banboye ·Cameroon ·10 min

Water Pepper Rivaled a Chemical Spray on Rice Grasshoppers

Two one-season rice trials tested boiled plant extracts as insect sprays. On Konkuk's natural farming paddy in Paju, water pepper, tobacco leaf and neem sprays cut pest counts to a fraction of the unsprayed plots while dragonflies stayed; in the lab, water pepper and tobacco killed every grasshopper within two days. On a conventional farm in Yeoju, water pepper extract held grasshoppers and stink bugs about as low as the chemical cypermethrin, but not stem borers.

Found Lab: water pepper and tobacco killed all grasshoppers within 2 days

beneficial insects insecticide neem pests protectors rice