Article by Seid Hussen Muhie, Wollo University
Published June 2022

Biodynamic farming is an old but new alternative agriculture for sustainable development. However, it is not well understood and practiced. It is similar to organic farming but incorporates metaphysical ideas in treating soil and crop growth. The objective of this paper is to review and give brief highlights about the concepts, principles, and applications of biodynamic farming. To review about biodynamic farming, different literatures, research works, and practical works have been reviewed. Different search engines were used in search of documents using keywords like biodynamic agriculture, organic farming, sustainable development, ecology, soil quality, and health.

Biodynamic farming is regarded as “above and beyond organic.” It was the first systematic method of organic farming as an alternative to the rise of high-input industrial agriculture. Biodynamic farming is the concern and practice of more than 5500 farmers globally, and the farming method has a very good preference among consumers of organic product. The number of countries with Demeter-International certified biodynamic activity increased from 42 to 55 with Germany having the largest (1552) biodynamic farms.

Some of the principles of biodynamic farming are restoring the soil through the incorporation of organic matter; treating soil as a living system; creating a system that brings all factors that maintain life into balance; encouraging the use and significance of green manure, crop rotation, and cover crops; and treating manure and compost in a biodynamic way. Biodynamic farming is more than just a set of techniques; it is also a conceptual philosophy that applies to the farm’s general structure.

The foundation of biodynamics is the construction of a farm that functions holistically as an unbroken organism. Scientifcally proofed, biodynamic farming has its own contribution to agriculture sustainability via efect on soil quality and improvement of quantity and nutritional quality of a produce and pest management. Hence, biodynamics is regarded as a promising road to tomorrow’s integrated and sustainable agriculture.

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