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Story: Organic farming

‘The cycle of life’

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‘The cycle of life’

The composter's guide, published by the Soil Association of New Zealand in 1959, extolled the virtue of organic farming, using composted waste to enrich the soil. Early advocates of organic farming in New Zealand were influenced by Sir Albert Howard, a British mycologist and agriculturalist who developed the ‘law of return’ as a principle of farming practice. He emphasised the important biological links between soil organisms, crops and livestock and considered that these links were broken in modern agricultural systems.

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Soil & Health Association of New Zealand

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How to cite this page

Seager Mason, Organic farming – What is organic farming?, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/document/16943/the-cycle-of-life (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by Seager Mason, published 1 March 2009.

Comments

geoff currie
20 May 2018
i will be in Hamilton for the field day in june 13th 14 th 15th ,I'm from Dunedin originaly but now live queensland on the sunshine coast and grow garlic potatoes,pumpkin, tomatoes, cucumbers,i would like to visit a garlic farm some where, in the north is if possible you may be able to help me thankyou regards Geoff