Biodynamic Farming

Biodynamic Farming

Subject – Agriculture

Context – Biodynamic Farming Takes Root in India

Concept –

• Biodynamic farming is what makes organic agriculture work. Drawn from concepts outlined by its Austrian pioneer Rudolf Steiner in 1924, it proscribes the use of chemicals on plants and soil and instead places emphasis on natural composts. In this, it is like organic farming.
  • Rudolf Steiner was an Austrian philosopher and scientist who’s thought was very much influenced by oriental philosophy, especially Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Vedic scriptures.
  • Out of this influence and his own studies was born Anthroposophy, or the wisdom (knowledge) of the human being.
  • Anthropos=human being Sophia=wisdom
  • At the heart of Anthroposophy is the recognition that the human being (Manushya) is a spiritual being (Purusha).
• The difference is the alignment of its practices with the cosmos, with zodiac signs as guidance. Also, various biodynamic preparations to fertilise the ground are used in far smaller quantities than otherwise.
• Rudolf explained how modern science and therefore chemical agriculture was based on the study of dead things in laboratories, rather than on the observation of living nature and the complex relationships constantly changing therein.
• Among this web of life he also included the cosmos with its moving planets and stars, and he spoke of how in the past, farmers instinctively knew about the effects of this movement on the life of plants and also animals and human beings.
• Rudolf Steiner introduced a few preparations based on homeopathic medicine to enhance the beneficial cosmic influences on plants and the soil, and encouraged people to experiment and find new ones as well.
• Biodynamics is primarily concerned with the higher forces, the finer energies and how they influence plants, animals, and human beings. This knowledge and work with the life forces brings balance and healing to the soil, and therefore to anything that grows in that soil and every being that eats those plants.

Main effects of using biodynamic agriculture

• to increase the vitality of food
• to regenerate natural resources such as the soil (by restoring the organic matter present in the soil), the seeds, and the water
• to create a personal relationship with the world in which we live, with Nature of which we are apart of, and to learn to work together
• most of all, to be of service to the Earth and its beings by aiding nature where it is weak due to constant use