新田農園

2021.07.16

自然の法則どおり自然のままの作物を実らせる
Farming That Follows The Laws of Nature

水俣は、水俣病公害ゆえに、いのちも、環境も、産業も、人間関係も失った。
「何も、ない」。
いや、水俣病があるじゃないか。
水俣病は私たちに何を教えたか。
環境が、自然が、いのちが大事と教えてくれた。
私たちはこれから、その教えの達人になろう。そう思ってできた制度が「環境マイスター」制度。
でも、単なる制度じゃない。苦難に向き合って、マイナスに見えたものをすべてプラスに変えた人生の達人がそこにいる。
（by Minamata Impact)

Minamata lost everything because of Minamata disease pollution: life, environment, industry, and human relations.
”We have nothing in Minamata…”
NO!! We have Minamata disease.
What did Minamata disease teach us?
It taught us that the environment, nature, and life are important. From now on, we should become masters of this lesson. With this in mind, the “Environment Meister” program was established.
But it is not just a program. There are many masters of life who have faced hardships and turned what seemed to be a negative into a positive in Minamata. You can meet them!
（by Minamata Impact)

以下、水俣市企画・監修「水俣堂々」より抜粋。
The following is an excerpt from “Minamata Dodo” planned and supervised by Minamata City.

みかんづくりの環境マイスター、その名も新田九州男（くすお）。父母は九州男児の心意気を託した。
若いころ、ＪＡで柑橘の指導員をしながらがんばって土地を購入した。自分の畑でも仕事をしようと決める。
「鍬と鎌とスコップのほかに電線を100メートル買いました」
職場から帰ってからの夜間の畑仕事、電線を家から引いて明かりを照らすのだ。毎夜,11時過ぎまでコツコツ作業した。

The environmental meister of tangerine production, his name is Kyusuo Nitta. His parents entrusted him with the spirit of a Kyushu boy. When he was young, he worked as a citrus instructor at JA and worked hard to purchase land. He decides to work in his own field as well.”In addition to the hoe, sickle and shovel, I bought 100 meters of electric wire.
After returning home from work, he would work in the fields at night, pulling electric wires to the house to provide light. Every night, he worked until past eleven o’clock.

30代に入ってすぐＪＡを辞し、自営の農家の道を選ぶ。そうなって、ある決断を下す。農薬を使わないこと、だ。
指導員としてはその使い方を指導する立場だったのだけれど。
「柑橘の木は大きい、だから上へ向かって農薬をかるとです」
すると霧雨となって自分に降り注ぐ。ずぶ濡れだ。
「恐ろしくなってね」
有機農法へと気持ちが傾いた。が、手探りである。東から西からそれを実践しているところを訪ね、見学し、教えを請うた。なかなかうまくいかない。考えては試し、失敗し、失敗しては発見し試すが、これでよいという確信はなかなかやってこない。まさに試行錯誤だ。

As soon as he entered his thirties, he quit JA and chose to become a self-employed farmer. When he did, he made a decision. He decided not to use pesticides. As an advisor, I was in a position to instruct him on how to use them.”Citrus trees are big, so they spray pesticides upward.
Then it drizzled down on me. He was soaked.
“I was terrified.” His mind turned to organic farming. However, He was still groping. He visited places from the east to the west that were practicing it, observed them, and asked them to teach him. It didn’t go so well. He thought, he tried, he failed, and after failing, he discovered and tried again, but he could not come to the conclusion that this was the right way. It is truly trial and error.

転機は50代になって訪れる。知人に誘われ、あ有機農法実践講習に参加した。まる一週間カンヅメとなるハードな講習だが、一週間が長いとは思わなった。わくわくした。
「いままで自分が求めて、やろうと努力してきた道筋が間違っていなかったと……」
はじめて確信に近い手ごたえがあった。
無から有を生むのが農業。それが確信だ。自然が自然の法則どおり動いて自然のままの作物を実らせる。そこによけいな人工物を使わない。だから「無から有」。
農法としては、おもに微生物の働きを借りる。雑木林から採取してきた微生物を米ぬかなどで培養する。微生物はよい土を作る。よい土は作物を健康にする。健康だから農薬に頼ることはない。そいう順序である。

The turning point came when he was in his fifties. An acquaintance of mine invited him to participate in a practical organic farming course. It was a hard course that required him to stay in bed for a whole week, but he didn’t think a week was long. He was excited.”I think I’ve been on the right track with what I’ve been seeking and trying to do. ……” For the first time, he felt something close to certainty.
Agriculture is about creating something from nothing. That was his conviction. Nature works according to the laws of nature to produce crops in their natural state. There is no need to use artificial materials. That is why there is something from nothing.The farming method is mainly based on microorganisms. Microorganisms collected from thickets are cultivated with rice bran. Microorganisms make good soil. Good soil makes crops healthy. Because they are healthy, they do not need to rely on pesticides. That’s the order of things.

ただし、課題はあった。この方法で作ると柑橘の見てくれがよくないのだ。つるんとしていない。不ぞろいのごつごつした、よくいえば野性的、わるくいえば不格好。したがって販売がむずかしい。これには苦労したが、奇策は求めなかった。古典的事実「いいものは売れる」を信じ、売りこみに大汗をかいた。結果は、ひとつ道がつけば信じたとおり販路はできあがっていった。

However, there was a problem. The citrus did not look good when made this way. They are not smooth. At best, they looked wild; at worst, they looked unattractive. Therefore, it is difficult to sell. He had a hard time with this, but he didn’t seek any strange ideas.

70代なかごろ、うれしいことがあった。孫の康晃が助手であり弟子を自ら名乗り出た。20代前半の若者は、「恐くて優しくて、尊敬できて煙ったい」おじいちゃんの仕事をじっと観察する。体力には自信はあるが、当然ながら経験では及ぶべくもない。だが、有機農法への共感は人一倍あるつもりだ。とりわけ、おじいちゃんの草性栽培には感心する。バタバタむやみやたらに雑草刈りをしない。夏は草がつくる日陰に意味がある。七陰三陽という言葉どおり、優しい陰をつくり土壌の微生物を守る。冬には土の被服となり地温を上げて作物を守る。そんなふうだから除草剤などとんでもないのだ。
「農業は、これで満足ということがありえない」
若者は師匠のその言葉を受け止める。師匠は、「農業は百年の計」ということを孫に伝える。あと何年かしたらきっとわかると信じている。

In my mid-70s, he had a happy experience. His grandson Yasuaki volunteered to be his assistant and apprentice, and a young man in his early twenties stared at the work of his “fearsome, kind, respectful, and smoky” grandfather.He is confident in his physical strength, but naturally he is not as experienced as he should be. However, he has as much sympathy for organic farming as anyone else. In particular, he admires his grandfather’s weedy cultivation. He doesn’t mow the weeds blindly. In summer, the shade created by the grass is meaningful. As the saying goes, “seven shades and three suns”, they provide gentle shade and protect the microorganisms in the soil. In the winter, it becomes a covering for the soil and raises the soil temperature to protect the crops. That’s why herbicides are a terrible idea.
“In agriculture, you can never be satisfied with what you have.”
The young man accepts the words of his master. The master tells his grandson that “farming is a hundred-year plan. He believes that he will understand in a few more years.
(Translated by Minamata Impact)