Join BDAI’s Conference – Shaping the Future of Biodynamics in India in Bengaluru this October!
Biodynamic farming takes into account a sense of care, respect, and responsibility for humanity; a fair and respectful approach towards society; and the needs of communities and nature.
Taking hold of and developing the farm as a living whole is one of the most important principles of the biodynamic Impulse. The ‘farm organism’ is a self-contained system with all its sub-systems serving the whole. A place that has been developed in the sense of a whole entity and has been cared for over the years – farm, garden, park or valley – develops within itself all the elements, which nature has produced so comprehensively. From this relationship between the micro and the universal, the individuality of the farm is established.
Plants are living beings which live in relation to other elements in their surroundings, form substances and develop their own contexts. They become qualitative images of their environment. One of the most important goals of biodynamic plant breeding is to enable plants to adapt to the specific conditions on a farm.
The transformation of living substances (soil, plants, animals and food) through the use of small quantities of alchemically transformed substances – the biodynamic preparations.
All living phenomena on Earth is brought forth and maintained through the activity of rhythms, often subject to cosmic cycles. Biodynamic Agriculture also takes in account these rhythms of the cosmos. The effect of cosmic cycles in the practical application of biodynamic agriculture can be understood by observing and working with these rhythms and their practical applications in activities such as sowing, transplanting, cultivation, and harvesting.
It is a process of sensing the essential being of the animal. This approach creates the conditions that enables the animals to reveal their true nature and make the best possible contribution to the farm. The keeping of livestock becomes self-sustaining and species- appropriate.
Earthly food ingredients merely builds our nerve-sense system and are used mainly for the production of energy for our muscle movements and the supply of the internal organs. However, the building up of substance in the body occurs through the uptake of substances through our sense organs, the eyes, the skin, breathing, that is, from the cosmos. Therefore, it is important that the food itself be as healthy and vital as possible, so that we can tap their forces for us. The forces we get from the food largely influence whether we can implement our will in the world. Biodynamic agriculture produces food that nourishes the body, soul and spirit.
Standards and a system of Demeter labeling were developed to enable customers to find the products grown in a biodynamic way. However, only by addressing and trying to reform the social and economic context within which the whole of agriculture is entwined, can alternative forms of agriculture succeed. Biodynamic agriculture must supply its own needs if it is to remain healthy. For a threefold ordering of society – economic, political and cultural -the representatives of production, trade and consumption – must come together and collectively find solutions to the issues that effect them by bringing reflection and common sense into the anonymous marketplace.
The ideal would be for the biodynamic farmer to become a meditant, a spiritual researcher.
Learn more about Biodynamics and training in India, including inspiring stories of people who live the biodynamic lifestyle!
