Seedball Technology
What’s a Seed ball?
Seeds balls are an ancient technique for propagating plants from seeds without opening up soil with cultivation tools such as a plow.
The rediscovery and popularization of seedballs (or “Clay Dumplings” as he called them) in modern times is typically ascribed to Japanese natural farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka.
As with many natural farmers, Fukuoka believed that tillage over large areas is laborious, destructive to soil health, and ultimately not needed and thus a waste of time and energy. Thus, seedballs have become an important aspect of many natural farming and conservation enterprises around the world.
- Abstract,International Journal of Current Microbiology and Applied Sciences, 2019 ‘Seed balls’ are prepared by non-governmental organizations and enthusiastic school children to trees grow trees rapidly for ecosystem restoration. However, there is immense scope for technically improving the seed...
- Abstract,International Journal of Agriculture Innovations and Research, 2018 Poor and erratic rainfall, poor chemical soil fertility and low water holding capacity of widely spread sandy soils are major constraints in the pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Brown) cropping system of the West...
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- Erratic germination of sugar-beet seeds is rather common. Some varieties and progenies germinate more rapidly than others. Inhibitory substances present in the seed ball have been shown to delay or inhibit germination. In contrast, the author has observed in certain progenies of sugar beets that...
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- Regeneration and restoration methodologies of tropical ecosystems on Costa Rican pastureland and farms are limited to primarily natural regeneration, direct seeding, tree planting, and stake planting. Seedballing is a common practice in Japan used to reduce predation and labor costs and increase...
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