It was dissolved by the National Socialist regime in 1941.
The Research Association was renamed the Imperial Association for Biodynamic Agriculture ( Reichsverband für biologisch-dynamische Wirtschaftsweise) in 1933. Bartsch was also instrumental in developing a sales organisation for biodynamic products, Demeter, which still exists today. Another group, the "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. Between 19, this research group attracted about 800 members from around the world, including Europe, the Americas and Australasia. For this purpose, Steiner established a research group, the "Agricultural Experimental Circle of Anthroposophical Farmers and Gardeners of the General Anthroposophical Society". Steiner emphasized that the methods he proposed should be tested experimentally.
The lectures were published in November 1924 the first English translation appeared in 1928 as The Agriculture Course. The 111 attendees, less than half of whom were farmers, came from six countries, primarily Germany and Poland. These lectures, the first known presentation of organic agriculture, 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.
Its development 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). Rudolf Steiner, occultist philosopher and founder of "anthroposophic agriculture", later known as "biodynamic".īiodynamics was the first modern organic agriculture. There are certification agencies for biodynamic products, most of which are members of the international biodynamics standards group Demeter International. Biodynamic methods of cultivating grapevines have been taken up by several notable vineyards. Germany accounts for 41.8% of the global total the remainder average 1750 ha per country. Īs of 2020, biodynamic techniques were used on 251,842 hectares in 55 countries, led by Germany, Australia and France. Biodynamic agriculture lacks strong scientific evidence for its efficacy and has been labeled a pseudoscience because of its reliance upon esoteric knowledge and mystical beliefs.
No difference in beneficial outcomes has been scientifically established between certified biodynamic agricultural techniques and similar organic and integrated farming practices. Biodynamic agriculture uses various herbal and mineral additives for compost additives and field sprays these are prepared using methods that are more akin to sympathetic magic than agronomy, such as burying ground quartz stuffed into the horn of a cow, which are said to harvest "cosmic forces in the soil". Some methods use an astrological sowing and planting calendar. Methods unique to the biodynamic approach include its treatment of animals, crops, and soil as a single system, an emphasis from its beginnings on local production and distribution systems, its use of traditional and development of new local breeds and varieties. It treats soil fertility, plant growth, and livestock care as ecologically interrelated tasks, emphasizing spiritual and mystical perspectives.īiodynamics has much in common with other organic approaches – it emphasizes the use of manures and composts and excludes the use of synthetic (artificial) fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides on soil and plants. Initially developed in 1924, it was the first of the organic agriculture movements. World map of biodynamic agriculture (hectares) īiodynamic agriculture is a form of alternative agriculture very similar to organic farming, but it includes various esoteric concepts drawn from the ideas of Rudolf Steiner (1861–1925).