In conventional organic farming, crop rotation is emphasized to prevent diseases, but JADAM thinks differently. In the JADAM method, continuous cropping, growing the same crop repeatedly, is believed to achieve higher yields more quickly. Thirty years of farming experiences have proven this to be true.
Continuous cropping disorder refers to the phenomenon in which the nutrients required by a crop become depleted as the same crop is cultivated repeatedly in the same soil, making cultivation increasingly difficult. Therefore, most farmers have been taught to practice crop rotation and believe it is the only path to abundant harvests. However, JADAM began to question whether continuous cropping necessarily leads to crop failure and sought answers from nature.
In nature, there is no such thing as “crop rotation". The same species can grow in one place for decades, even centuries, without any problem. The trees in the forest do not wither with time. Instead, they become even more lush. This is because nature does not view stems and leaves as sources of disease but as nutrients to sustain life. In autumn, fallen leaves and branches return to the soil, becoming nutrients for the trees once again. This is nature’s continuous cropping, the most perfect form of farming.
The difference between human farming and nature’s farming is that humans remove stems and leaves from the field, thinking they are breeding grounds for disease and pests, while nature recycles them as the best source of nutrients. The stems and leaves contain precisely the nutrients that the crop needs. When they return to the soil and decompose, they become fertilizer with the ideal nutritional balance for that crop.
JADAM sees crop residues not as a source of disease, but as a rich source of nutrients. Therefore, JADAM strongly recommends making compost or liquid fertilizer from crop residues and returning them to the soil. Through this process, the soil becomes more nutrient-rich each year, eliminating continuous cropping problems and allowing for truly abundant harvests.
Many agricultural experts claim that crop residues must be removed to prevent diseases such as anthracnose or powdery mildew in the following season. However, these pathogens already exist naturally in the soil as part of the microbial ecosystem. Removing crop residues does not eliminate them. Just as humans cannot completely separate themselves from the common cold virus, the key is not to eradicate microbes but to maintain a healthy ecological balance.
JADAM researches and promotes organic farming techniques, but it does not support crop rotation. Agricultural technology should follow nature. Nature does not discard diseased leaves, it transforms them back into nutrients. By following this same cycle, human farming can also achieve perfect ecological balance and the path to high yields.