Biodynamics is part of Anthroposophy, the system developed by Rudolf Steiner. According to this method of Organic Farming, all farms are individual organisms. BD emphasises balancing the interrelationship of plants, animals, soil etc with its holistic development as a self nourishing system, sans external inputs.
BD is practised in 50 countries worldwide today. BD developed as a result of 8 lectures given by the founder of Anthroposophy, R Steiner. Steiner prescribed nine different preparations to aid fertilisation. He believed that these preparations transferred celestial and terrestrial forces into the soil The first two are used for preparing fields and the other seven for making compost. Field preparations included buring cow dung into the soil.
Astronomic Planting Calender
The farmers of India use the Calender for planting seedlings. For instance, normally the planting of seeds is done on Vishu 8, when the Sun enters the 8th degree of sidereal Aries. The phases of the Moon and other celestial influences on soil and plant development are considered.
The Vedic Calender is sidereal and is based on the twelve months starting from Mesha ( Aries ) to Meena ( Pisces).The farmers of Kerala say that if you dont water the plants during the summer months of Capricorn, Aquarius & Pisces, you will get no agri product in Gemini and Cancer. Aries is chosen for planting because it marks the end of summer and the beginning of the rainy season in Kerala. As the Sun stops his Northern progress ( Uttarayana ) and starts his Southern progress ( Dakshinayana ), the cold winds from the Indian Ocean hit the Himalayas and orographically enhanced precipitation occurs. Actually the winds are south easterly, but because of the Coriolis Force, produced by the rotation of the earth, the winds become south westerly. The six months from Makara ( Capricorn ) are Uttarayana ( Sun’s declination north ) and six months from Kataka ( Cancer ) is his Dakshinayana ( Sun’s declination south ).
The word monsoon is derived from the Sanskrit “masam” and the Hindi “mausam”. From the 15th of Edavam ( Taurus ), on May 29th, as the South West Moonsoon hits coastal Kerala first, Kerala gets plenty of rains and when rains subside in September, Thula Varsham or the North East Monsoon steps in with rains again and the farmers of Kerala do not have to water their plants till Dhanus ( Sagittarius ). Only during the five months, from Dhanus ( Sagittarius ) to Mesha ( Aries), the plants need water from sources other than the sky and the farmer can relax in the next seven months ! Blessed are Keralites as they are graced by the South West and the North East Monsoons !