Gardening Biography
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system.[1][2][3] One of the first modern ecological farming systems,[4][5][6][7] it emphasizes a sustainable approach to agriculture.[8][9]
Biodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches – it emphasizes the use of manures and composts and excludes the use of artificial chemicals on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include an emphasis on integrating farm animals, the cultivation of crops, and the care of the land, and an emphasis from its beginnings on local production and distribution systems using local breeds and varieties and the use of an astronomical sowing and planting calendar.[10][11] It uses various herbal and mineral preparations as compost additives and field sprays, as well as more mystical (and controversial) elements such burying as ground quartz stuffed into the horn of a cow, which are said to harvest "cosmic forces in the soil", more akin to sympathetic magic than modern agronomy.
As of 2011 biodynamic techniques were used on 142,482 hectares in 47 countries; Germany accounts for 45.1% of the global total.[12] Biodynamic methods of cultivating wine grapes have been taken up broadly, including by notable vineyards[13] There are independent certification agencies for biodynamic products; most of these agencies are members of the international biodynamics standards group Demeter International.
Biodynamic agriculture has been characterized as pseudoscience.[14][15][16][17] Its founder, Rudolf Steiner, and its developers characterize it as "spiritual science". They advocate taking a holistic view rather than a reductionist view.[4][18]The development of biodynamic agriculture began in 1924 with a series of eight lectures on agriculture given by philosopher Rudolf Steiner at Schloss Koberwitz in Silesia, Germany, (now Kobierzyce in Poland east of Wrocław). The lectures, the first known to have been given on organic agriculture,[4] were held in response to a request by farmers who noticed degraded soil conditions and a deterioration in the health and quality of crops and livestock resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers.[19] The one hundred and eleven attendees, less than half of whom were farmers, came from six countries, primarily Germany and Poland.[4] The lectures were published in November 1924; the first English translation appeared in 1928 as The Agriculture Course.[20]
Steiner emphasized that the methods he proposed should be tested experimentally. An "Association for Research in Anthroposophical Agriculture" (Versuchsring anthroposophischer Landwirte), directed by the German agronomist Erhard Bartsch, was formed to test the effects of biodynamic methods on the life and health of soil, plants and animals; the group published a monthly journal Demeter.[18] Bartsch was also instrumental in developing a sales organisation for biodynamic products, Demeter, which still exists today. The Research Association was renamed The Imperial Association for Biodynamic Agriculture (Reichsverband für biologisch-dynamische Wirtschaftsweise) in 1933. It was dissolved by the National Socialist regime in 1941. In 1931 the association had 250 members in Germany, 109 in Switzerland, 104 in other European countries and 24 outside Europe. The oldest biodynamic farms are the Wurzerhof in Austria and Marienhöhe in Germany.[21]
Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that emphasizes the holistic development and interrelationships of the soil, plants and animals as a self-sustaining system.[1][2][3] One of the first modern ecological farming systems,[4][5][6][7] it emphasizes a sustainable approach to agriculture.[8][9]
Biodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches – it emphasizes the use of manures and composts and excludes the use of artificial chemicals on soil and plants. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include an emphasis on integrating farm animals, the cultivation of crops, and the care of the land, and an emphasis from its beginnings on local production and distribution systems using local breeds and varieties and the use of an astronomical sowing and planting calendar.[10][11] It uses various herbal and mineral preparations as compost additives and field sprays, as well as more mystical (and controversial) elements such burying as ground quartz stuffed into the horn of a cow, which are said to harvest "cosmic forces in the soil", more akin to sympathetic magic than modern agronomy.
As of 2011 biodynamic techniques were used on 142,482 hectares in 47 countries; Germany accounts for 45.1% of the global total.[12] Biodynamic methods of cultivating wine grapes have been taken up broadly, including by notable vineyards[13] There are independent certification agencies for biodynamic products; most of these agencies are members of the international biodynamics standards group Demeter International.
Biodynamic agriculture has been characterized as pseudoscience.[14][15][16][17] Its founder, Rudolf Steiner, and its developers characterize it as "spiritual science". They advocate taking a holistic view rather than a reductionist view.[4][18]The development of biodynamic agriculture began in 1924 with a series of eight lectures on agriculture given by philosopher Rudolf Steiner at Schloss Koberwitz in Silesia, Germany, (now Kobierzyce in Poland east of Wrocław). The lectures, the first known to have been given on organic agriculture,[4] were held in response to a request by farmers who noticed degraded soil conditions and a deterioration in the health and quality of crops and livestock resulting from the use of chemical fertilizers.[19] The one hundred and eleven attendees, less than half of whom were farmers, came from six countries, primarily Germany and Poland.[4] The lectures were published in November 1924; the first English translation appeared in 1928 as The Agriculture Course.[20]
Steiner emphasized that the methods he proposed should be tested experimentally. An "Association for Research in Anthroposophical Agriculture" (Versuchsring anthroposophischer Landwirte), directed by the German agronomist Erhard Bartsch, was formed to test the effects of biodynamic methods on the life and health of soil, plants and animals; the group published a monthly journal Demeter.[18] Bartsch was also instrumental in developing a sales organisation for biodynamic products, Demeter, which still exists today. The Research Association was renamed The Imperial Association for Biodynamic Agriculture (Reichsverband für biologisch-dynamische Wirtschaftsweise) in 1933. It was dissolved by the National Socialist regime in 1941. In 1931 the association had 250 members in Germany, 109 in Switzerland, 104 in other European countries and 24 outside Europe. The oldest biodynamic farms are the Wurzerhof in Austria and Marienhöhe in Germany.[21]
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