Bio. dyn. spray preparations: hypotheses and results

Information about the biodynamic spray preparations horn manure (500) and horn silica (501) that does not correspond to the current state of research is sometimes disseminated on television, in newspapers and on social media. In the following brief description, the main hypotheses and research results on the preparations are presented.

Hypotheses

The basic hypotheses on the effect of biodynamic spray preparations were put forward in 1924 by Rudolf Steiner, the developer of these preparations: Increase in a) soil activity, b) plant health and c) food quality (Steiner 2020).

In the 1970s, dissertations on the effect of biodynamic preparations on the yield and storage properties of various crops were carried out at the Institute of Plant Production and Plant Breeding at the University of Giessen under the direction of Prof. Boguslawski and Prof. Ahrens. These doctoral theses (Spieß 1978, Samaras 1978; Figures 1-4) showed that the effects postulated by Steiner occurred particularly clearly under unfavorable growing conditions. The original hypothesis was thus substantiated: The b.d. spray preparations can partially compensate for unfavorable growth conditions, i.e., the tolerance of the plants to stress during growth is increased.

Results

Current results from the last 3 years in Europe

In a joint evaluation of three trial years each, horn manure and horn silica treatments were used to a) significantly increase soil activity in pumpkin (Juknevičienė et al. 2019, Figures 5/6) and potatoes (Vaitkevičienė et al. 2019, Figures 6/7), b) significantly increased the yield and secondary plant metabolite content of pumpkin (Juknevičienė et al 2021, Figures 8-10) and potatoes (Vaitkevičienė 2016;)(Figure 11).

Horn manure and horn silica treatment had a significant positive balancing effect on soil respiration (Fritz et al. 2020b, Figure 12): Soil respiration was increased in soils with low soil respiration and soil respiration was decreased in soils with very high soil respiration. This can be cautiously interpreted as a development towards a balanced relationship between respiration-induced carbon and nutrient mineralization while avoiding climate-impacting high carbon decomposition. On vineyard soils in France, soil structure was significantly improved with the application of b.d. spray preparations (Fritz et al. 2021, Figure 13).

International work in Asia

At trial sites in Asia, yield levels were low for soybean (Tung and Fernandes 2007), rice (Valez and Fernandes 2008) and caraway (Sharma et al. 2012). The application of horn manure and horn silica significantly increased the yield on the trial sites(Figures 14-17).

Image-forming methods

In the last ten years, it has become clear in research that the structure of food plays an important role in the physical, sensory and nutritional properties of food and the resulting health effects (Aguilera et al. 2019). A high resistance to ageing indicates a high ability to maintain the external and internal structure under stress. It is therefore an indicator of high stress tolerance as an important concept of organic food quality (Kahl et al. 2012).

Aging of pressed juice at 8°C systematically changes crystal structures in the copper chloride crystallization method. By treating the plants during cultivation with the biodynamic preparations, the resistance to ageing and thus the food quality was increased in grape juice (Fritz et al. 2017, 2020a) and rocket (Athmann et al. 2021), visually evaluated on coded samples(Figure 18).

Positive effects of biodynamic vs. organic-biological cultivation

System comparisons in recent years have revealed favorable effects of biodynamic vs. organic-biological management: In the Swiss DOK trial, for example, the b.d. cultivation system showed the highest aggregate stability, the highest biodiversity in the soil and the lowest metabolic quotient (Mäder et al. 2002, Figures 19/20). Skinner et al. (2019, Figures 21/22) found the lowest nitrous oxide emissions in the DOK trial with the b.d. cultivation system. Ortiz-Alvarez et al. (2021, Figures 23/24) found the lowest modularity and the highest clustering, both measures of microbial network stability, in biodynamic vineyards compared to organically and conventionally farmed vineyards in microbiome studies. The differences were significant for vineyards in both Spain and the USA.

Literature list of scientifically edited articles and dissertations:

Athmann M., Bornhütter R., Busscher N. Doesburg P., Geier U., Mergardt G., Scherr C., Köpke U., Fritz J. (2021): An update on image forming methods: structure analysis and Gestalt evaluation of images from rocket lettuce with shading, N supply, organic or mineral fertilization, and biodynamic preparations. Organic Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-021-00347-1

Fritz J., Athmann M., Meissner G., Kauer R., Schultz H.R. (2020a): Quality assessment of grape juice from integrated, organic and biodynamic viticulture using image forming methods. OENO one, https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2020.54.2.2548

Fritz J., Jannoura R., Lauer F., Schenk J., Masson P., Joergensen R. G. (2020b): Functional microbial diversity responses to biodynamic management in Burgundy on vineyard soils. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, 36(3), 172-186, https://doi.org/10.1080/01448765.2020.1762739

Fritz J., Lauer F., Wilkening A., Masson P., Peth S. (2021): Aggregate stability and visual evaluation of soil structure in biodynamic cultivation of Burgundy vineyard soils. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, https://doi.org/10.1080/01448765.2021.1929480.

Fritz, J., Athmann, M., Meissner, G., Kauer, R., Köpke, U. (2017): Quality characterization via image forming methods differentiates grape juice produced from integrated, organic or biodynamic vineyards in the first year after conversion. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, https://doi.org/10.1080/01448765.2017.1322003

Juknevičienė E., Danilčenko H., Jarienė E., Živatkauskienė V., Zeise J., Fritz J. (2021): The effect of biodynamic preparations on growth and fruit quality of giant pumpkin(Cucurbita maxima D.). Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40538-021-00258-z

Juknevičienė, E., Danilčenko, H., Jarienė, E., Fritz, J. (2019): The effect of horn-manure preparation on enzymes activity and nutrient contents in soil as well as great pumpkin yield. Open Agricultur 4, 452-459, doi: https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2019-0044

Mäder P., Fliessbach A., Dubois D., Gunst L., Fried P., Niggli U. (2002): Soil fertility and biodiversity in organic farming. Science. 296(5573):1694-1697. DOI: 10.1126/science.1071148

Ortiz- Álvarez R., Ortega-Arranz H., Ontiveros V.J., de Celis M., Ravarani C., Acedo A., Beldaa I. (2021): Network Properties of Local Fungal Communities Reveal the Anthropogenic Disturbance Consequences of Farming Practices in Vineyard Soils. American Society for Microbiology. journals.asm.org/doi/full/10.1128/mSystems.00344-21

Samaras I. (1978): Nachernernteverhalten unterschiedlich gedüngter Gemüsearten mit besonderer Berücksichtigung physiologischer und mikrobiologischer Parameter [Post-harvest behaviour of differently fertilized vegetable species with special consideration of physiological and microbiological parameters]. Dissertation, University of Giessen.

Sharma S.K., Laddha K.C., Sharma R.K., Gupta P.K., Chatta L.K., Pareeek P. (2012): Application of biodynamic preparations and organic manures for organic production of cumin (Cuminum cyminum L.). International Journal of Seed Spices 2(01): 7-11.

Skinner C., Gattinger A., Krauss M, Krause H.M., Mayer J., van der Heijden M.G., Mäder P. (2019): The impact of long-term organic farming on soil-derived greenhouse gas emissions. Sci Rep 9, 1702. https://doi. org/10.1038/s41598-018-38207-w

Tung L.D., Fernandez P.G. (2007): Soybeans under organic, biodynamic and chemical production at the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Philippine Journal of Crop Science 32(02): 49-62.

Vaitkevičienė N., Jarienė E., Ingold R., Peschke J. (2019): Effect of biodynamic preparations on the soil biological and agrochemical properties and colored potato tubers quality. Open Agriculture 4: 17-23. https://doi.org/10.1515/opag-2019-0002

Vaitkevičienė N. (2016): The effect of biodynamic preparations on the accumulation of biologically active compounds in the tubers of different genotypes of ware potatoes. Dissertation, Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Akademija.

Valdez R.E., Fernandez P.G. (2008): Productivity and seed quality of rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars grown under synthetic, organic fertilizer and biodynamic farming practices. Philippine Journal of Crop Science 33(01): 37-58.

General literature

Aguilera J.M. (2019): The food matrix: implications in processing, nutrition and health. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 59(22):3612-29. 10.1080/10408398.2018.1502743

Kahl J., Baars T., Bügel S., Busscher N., Huber M., Kusche D., Rembialkowska E., Schmid O., Seidel K., Taupier-Letage B., Velimirov A., Zalecka A. (2012): Organic food quality: a framework for concept, definition and evlauation from the European perspective. J Sci Food Agric 92(14):2760-2765. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.5640

Steiner R. (2020): Landwirtschaftlicher Kurs - Geisteswissenschaftliche Grundlagen zum Gedeihen der Landwirtschaft. Published by epubli, Berlin.