Research on biodynamic preparations
The biodynamic preparations are an essential element in biodynamic agriculture.
Right from the start, biodynamic preparations produced a great interest (also in scientific terms), because of their special method of production and because of the small amounts required for application (a few grams per hectar). However, the preparations prevalently provoked critical discussions as well.
In his agricultural lectures R. Steiner described the following preparations:
Spray preparations (or field preparations):
500 horn manure
501 horn silica
Compost preparations (or manure preparations):
502 yarrow (flowers from Achillea millefolium)
503 camomile preparation (flowers from Matricaria chamomilla)
504 nettle (stem from Urtica dioica)
505 oak bark (Quercus robur)
506 dandelion (flowers from Taraxacum officinale)
507 valerian (juice from the flowers Valeriana officinalis)
The literature available on biodynamic preparations is quite extensive. König (1999) published a list of 648 references on this topic.
Bibliography
Reference:
König, U.J. (1999): Ergebnisse aus der Präparateforschung. Lose-Blatt-Sammlung. Schriftenreihe IBDF, Band 12; Darmstadt
There is a multitude of pot and field trials testing the effect of biodynamic preparations on different plant species. A selection of results is presented on the following pages:
- Effect of biodynamic preparations on the yield
- Effect of biodynamic preparations on the quality of crops
- Effect of biodynamic preparations on soil properties
- Effects of biodynamic preparations on organic fertilizer and compost
- Explanatory models for the effects of preparations
- Experiments showing no effects of preparations