Abstract
Abstract Biodynamic farming is a growing branch of organic farming which uses various so-called biodynamic preparations with the aim to enhance plant growth and soil quality. These preparations comprise plant parts fermented in animal sheaths (e.g., cow intestines or deer bladders) which are then applied to manures and composts before applying to the field (compost preparations). Two special preparations based on manure and silica are applied to the crops as field sprays (spray preparations). The effect of these biodynamic preparations, however, is a matter of debate. In a long-term experiment over 27 yrs, within an organic crop rotation, the use of biodynamic compost preparations has recently been shown to impact the soil biological community. Using the same experiment, we investigated whether these soil-level effects also displayed in agronomic parameters of arable crops. We found that the use of biodynamic compost preparations, when compared with farmyard manure (FYM) compost application without preparations, had no effect on yield in any of the investigated crops (spring wheat, winter wheat, oats, winter rye, faba bean, potatoes, maize, and grass/clover), or when data from all crops were pooled. Temporal yield stability of spring wheat and grass/clover was also unaffected by the biodynamic compost preparations. The application of FYM compost, however, led to significant increases in both yield and yield stability as compared to the non-fertilized control. We conclude that while biodynamic compost preparations did influence biological processes in the soil, they did not increase the crop yields in our long-term trial.
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Claims 6
Claim · model-written summary
Biodynamic compost preparations did not affect yields of the eight investigated crops relative to compost without preparations.
- Taxon
- spring wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Treatment
- biodynamic compost preparationse0
- Outcome
- yielde0
- Direction
- had no effecte0
- Qualifier
- spring wheat, winter wheat, oats, winter rye, faba bean, potatoes, maize, and grass/clovere0
- Comparator
- farmyard manure (FYM) compost application without preparationse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the use of biodynamic compost preparations, when compared with farmyard manure (FYM) compost application without preparations, had no effect on yield in any of the investigated crops (spring wheat, winter wheat, oats, winter rye, faba bean, potatoes, maize, and grass/clover)”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodynamic compost preparations did not affect pooled yield across crops.
Verbatim
e0“or when data from all crops were pooled”
e1“the use of biodynamic compost preparations, when compared with farmyard manure (FYM) compost application without preparations, had no effect on yield”
e2“agronomic parameters of arable crops”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodynamic compost preparations did not affect temporal yield stability of spring wheat.
- Taxon
- spring wheatTriticum aestivume0
- Treatment
- biodynamic compost preparationse0
- Outcome
- Temporal yield stabilitye0
- Direction
- unaffectede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Temporal yield stability of spring wheat and grass/clover was also unaffected by the biodynamic compost preparations.”
Claim · model-written summary
Biodynamic compost preparations did not affect temporal yield stability of grass/clover.
- Taxon
- grass/clovere0
- Treatment
- biodynamic compost preparationse0
- Outcome
- Temporal yield stabilitye0
- Direction
- unaffectede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Temporal yield stability of spring wheat and grass/clover was also unaffected by the biodynamic compost preparations.”
Claim · model-written summary
Farmyard manure compost significantly increased crop yield relative to the unfertilized control.
Verbatim
e0“The application of FYM compost, however, led to significant increases in both yield and yield stability as compared to the non-fertilized control.”
e1“agronomic parameters of arable crops”
Claim · model-written summary
Farmyard manure compost significantly increased crop yield stability relative to the unfertilized control.
Verbatim
e0“The application of FYM compost, however, led to significant increases in both yield and yield stability as compared to the non-fertilized control.”
e1“agronomic parameters of arable crops”
The same questions in other papers
fertilization · yield · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
322 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3,115 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- positive
- positive
3,434 papers more in this group
See all 3,438 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.