<style> @import url('http://fonts.cdnfonts.com/css/alegreya'); @import url('http://fonts.cdnfonts.com/css/bebas-neue'); @import url('http://fonts.cdnfonts.com/css/alegreya-sans'); * { font-family: 'Alegreya Sans', sans-serif; } h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, .bebas, .button > a { font-family: 'Bebas Neue', sans-serif; border: none !important; } .serif { font-family: 'Alegreya', sans-serif; } .ui-lastchangeuser { display: none; } .ui-lastchange:before { content: "ÚLTIMA MODIFICACIÓN: " } </style> :::info Learn more about our work at [Agroteso.com](https://agroteso.com). ::: # The Cornerstone of Biodynamic Farming in Mexico > [name=Dr JM Anguiano, Agroteso and Mikael Institute] The purpose of scientific study in the biodynamic farming, beyond the particular search of the characters that make up the living world and which distinguishes them from inert matter, is to deeply understand the meaning of life (Bios) and the process which happen with an integrated approach between science and spirit. For this reason, agronomy and biology as experimental sciences, do not cease to be essentially open to spiritual science, from the point of view of animated beings, provided that they are conducted with an upright and healthy thinking, without preconceptions (a priori), but rather with an entire post approach possibilities (a posteriori), recognizing the uniqueness of each, so that natural science is spiritualized and the spiritual is naturalized. This practice is full of spirituality and not just theory, an aspect which is so recurrent in the scientific mentality today, and which has caused the separation of rationality and reality in conventional agriculture. There is no posivitist method to determine what should be a science, or whether a particular scientific approach is worthyto study an organism, from the empirical sensitivity of the human being, leaving aside the existence of a living worldwhich is stagnating in the subjectivity of a blind science. The intention is to properly build the realm of the living, for the living and its ontological explanation: movement (dynamis). Thus, biodynamics means, in relation with these principles, forces or spiritual powers which drive the movements of life (cause) to be decanted in to matter (effect), that is, the manifestation of the physical-living. The description above comes from the philosophical-spiritual scientific interpretation of the eight lectures in the agriculture course, dictated by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in Koberwitz in 1924, spoken with a touch of genius from start to finish, with abundant wisdom and deep observation of nature, in a framework of telluric and cosmic forces uniting to give an important message to human being in the present era of the consciousness soul: “the light incarnates in matter and is emancipated by the human being to the cosmos through thought”. In this way the invitation is extended to read these narratives, not with the modern intellectual mentality, but with the heart vibrating with joy, which leads to higher states of consciousness than common thinking : imagination, inspiration and intuition. As a result, we have a new worldview, one which contemplates with deep respect for nature and especially the forces or powers that result, as much in the cosmos as in a living atom. Any other state of mind that intends to elucidate what was conceived in Kobwerwitz in 1924, is in short talk empty of life and spiritual strength. It replicates what was not reflected on or understood thus becoming more of the same in “fairy tale” to the materialistic ear, which may cause the nullity of farmers and those who cling to transmit it, as a simple cookbook. In this sense we must also add, the paradigm of today’s education , full of concepts, preconceptions, a linear view, intellectuality, competition, reductionism, and materialism. Inn short: a bank education (Paulo Freire, 1972), which resembles the allegory of Plato’s cave, where man lives in the physical-sensible world, manipulated by involutive forces that overcloud his/her thinking toward the intelligible world, the world of ideas or universal thought (espirare). From this context and understanding- the linear view of current knowledge- it is important to build a bridge, addressing two aspects. Firstirst the transition from a materialistic thinking to a cosmic thinking and secondly to lay the cornerstone that enables the step (Easter) from a conventional farming system to one attuned with nature and the cosmos.  In Mexico in particular and Latin America in general, there still exist certain paradigms and prejudices regarding the possibility of a homogeneous experimental study of science to an spiritual science. This isevident from the materialistic thinking coined in Europe centuries ago, and welcomed by the economic systems that dominate our planet, extending their tentacles to the themes of focus in Universities, as well as the paths of knowledge generation required for this “system”. Although the openness of this two-pronged approach has been gradually growing, it is not without certain obstacles which affect the openness to biodynamics as such: ## Biodynamics as pinnacle of science and spirit Rudolf Steiner in his writings on agriculture (1924), establishes the importance of considering the study of the plants from terrestrial and cosmic movement. This universal movement is not collapsed into an absurd disordered movement of material in space, but is closely related to the rhythmic and harmonic movements of the planets and universes in the cosmos. That is, that all motion is produced by a cause (spirare) and maintains a consistent relationship to its effect (matter). Thus, if we observe that the nutrition of an organism is essential for its coexistence, we note that, in fact, nutrition is the cause of its good growth. But the nutrition is not dependent on the body. Rather, its unique nature and strength comes from the universe (Steiner, 1924). Thus while the cause of the growth of an organism is its nutrition, this same is also part of the cosmic influence, which shows the irrevocable relationship between nonliving (inert) matter with living matter. The link between the coexistence of these two dimensions -nutrition (susbstare) and the growth of an organism (dynamis) – is an analog similar to that which, according to Steiner, science and spirit needs. Biodynamics is thus the science which studies, esentially, the “lively spirit that substantially keeps organic material alive in physical bodies.” Dr. Rudolf Steiner (1922) considers it important to interpret cosmic forces within terrestrial organisms as influences of an active order, that which in anthroposophy is called the vital or etheric body. This vital principle is plausible evidence more than a phenomenological designation, as Herbert Koepf (2008 p. 8) states in his book: What is biodynamic farming? “Training methods suitable for everyone, which reinforce capacities of thinking and lead eventually to the perception of processes of the etheric world”. ## Biodynamic agriculture in Mexico: a foundational process for the Mexican agricultural spirit In the past four decades, there has been an exponential increase in usufruct, in a highly extractive form, of Mexican soil in an area of 23 million hectares for national agricultural productivity. Even the alternatives emerging in this intensive system, are still linked to the use of synthetic chemicals, backed by a reductionist science that has become a dictatorship. Together with the industrial sector this system generates a tempting image of productiviy to the Mexican producer- an agricultural mirage, in which the farmer is the last in the chain of consumption of inputs, but the first to market their products to intermediaries. This “production system”, does not care for the health of the soil, and of course, not of the final product In Mexico 8 out of 10 farmers have contaminated, compacted, and structure-less soil, , with salinity or acidification, eroded to some extent and with an organic matter content thatdoes not exceed 1%. This situation is due in large part to the high rate of investment by the multinational chemical industry, whose main interest is the sale of inputs that accelerates or diminish agricultural production processes, without considering effects to the soil or environmental. In this scenario, it is important to see that the agriculturalists of our country are cornerstone of biodynamic farming in Mexico. Unlike in other nations, nine out of ten farmers in Mexico have one main thing: the belief in something greater (Pistis), be this conceived as it may, or the intuitive knowledge of our prehispanic ancestors. This belief is the tool to return the paradigm towards a worldview in harmony with the universe. Based on the above, in the past six years, efforts to carry the impulse of the wisdom of Dornach to the Mexican countryside, have been based on two aspects: one in which actions must demonstrate tangible results and the other, the construction of an arch or bridge that allows us to transition to a cosmic agriculture It is precisely this latter that elevates itself from science to art, or vice versa, since the base of biodynamic agriculture is the ground. But our soil is polluted and almost sterile. How can we replenish its fertility, which is the foundation of health?We direct our gaze to the statement of Dr. E. Pfeiffer, a disciple of Rudolf Steiner and to whom is owed the knowledge generated in America with the results of biodynamic preparations, compost and soil fertility This knowledge applies a process of change to experimental sciencein a way that respects the concepts given by Steiner in Koberwitz, and which generates a set of principles in the journey towards agriculture biodynamics – especially the content of soil organic matter and the soil humification process. Pfeiffer stresses that it should be above 1.5% as a basis for strong results with the biological-dynamic method. This aspect is mentioned in his book “Soil fertility”, published in 1947. The results obtained by Anguiano and Palma (2012) in citrus orchards in the presence of Diaphorina citri and HLB (Huanglongbing or “citrus greening disease”), which were presented at the 2012 Biodynamic Conference in Madison, Wisconsin, show that the construction of the bridge must be based on consideration of four solid pillars: the importance of soil components (organic matter, humification, structure, soil fauna and microbiology); tree (trunk, shoots, cosmic pruning, rhizosphere and health), productivity (quality, economy, social context and self-sufficiency) and environment ( beneficial insects, biodiversity, and sustainability). By considering these pillars, the knowledge gained can be extrapolated to other fruits. Based on the approach described above, since 2010 it has beenpossible for conventional and organics orchards to transition to biodynamic farming in Mexico. Within the framework of the aforementioned principles, we were working in different states. These include Chihuahua state(apple trees, pecan nut trees and alfalfa); Colima state(citrus, vegetables and tropical grasslands); Jalisco state( coconut and corn); Michoacán state(avocado and strawberries), Guanajuato state(in cucumber and tomato), and in Mexico state(avocado). In total? these groups consist of more than 40 farms and exceed four thousand hectares of different fruits and crops. In synthesis, the cornerstone found in the farmers of our country, is the basis that can carry the agriculture of death, led by the involutive forces, towards an agriculture of light and life, driven by the ever-powerful spiritual world. :::info Learn more about our work at [Agroteso.com](https://agroteso.com). :::