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Homeopathy Applied to Agriculture
Overall, homeopathic remedies appear to be able to harmlessly restore the dynamic equilibrium in agroecosystems. In recent studies, Bonamin (2020) verifed the protective role of isotherapy (the treatment of viral and bacterial illnesses by administering dilute dosages of those
microorganisms to infected patients) in Artemia salina (brine shrimp) exposed to pesticides and
heavy metals. The treatment of Artemia cysts exposed to glyphosate and lead with the respective
isotherapy induced better adaptation of these animals to the harmful medium, reducing problems
with egg hatching and the incidence of malformations in the newborn larvae. Bonamin also
observed that the treatment of a natural water source with Phosphorus 30 CH produced signifcant changes in dipole moment in water samples harvested from different and distant locales of
the same environment.
THE APPROPRIATENESS OF HOMEOPATHY FOR AGROECOLOGY
The ethical and social potential of homeopathy lends itself well to the toolkit of alternative agricultural
movements (Kohler and Negrão, 2018), and homeopathy in agriculture is recognised as an effective
social technology (Andrade and Casali, 2011). Social technologies need to be simple, cheap, effective
and accessible to all farmers without causing dependency on costly inputs. In Brazil, integrative and
complementary practices – including homeopathic preparations – have been legislated for public use
in the national health system, as well as in organic food production systems (Brasil, 2007).
Homeopathy has been adopted by farmers from the ‘Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra’
(the landless workers’ movement) in Santa Catarina State. In 2018, in the city of Ponte Alta, 44
families, who cultivate around 200 ha, completed a 6-month training course, organised by the
Laboratory of Homeopathy and Plant Health, on the theory and practice of homeopathy, which
took place in their own communities. These farmers received homeopathic kits for general use on
their farms, with the remedies in these kits being in liquid form which allowed them to make up
different potencies for the treatment of livestock, plants and the environment. Through sharing this
knowledge in their communities, the farmers were able to empower others and build community
resilience, something which the use of purchased agrochemicals is unable to engender.
Because of its holistic nature, homeopathy also holds potential to encourage multidisciplinary
collaboration. Over the last decade, the integrative homeopathy course held at the EPAGRI station
in Lages and UDESC, Santa Catarina, has trained not only farmers, but also agronomists, veterinarians, holistic therapists, medical doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, psychologists, teachers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, all of whom attend the 150 hour-long course during which they
discuss the philosophy of science, vitality, homeopathic science, quantum methodologies and more.
Through workshops, case studies and delivering training themselves, they develop a sense of collectiveness as they experience how homeopathy can be applied in different disciplinary situations.
Other research groups, in Brazil and abroad, have also been generating knowledge and delivering extension on homeopathy. Examples are given as following. Within Brazil, there is the work
of the Research Group on Biological and Alternative Phytosanitary Controls (COBALFI) and
the Popular Homeopathy Group of Western Paraná (CAPA), both based at the State University
of Western Paraná (UNIOESTE). Paraná state also has Carlos Bonato’s team at the University of
Maringa and the Paranaense Agroecology Reference Centre which has been delivering specialised
courses in homeopathy for almost 15 years. At Viçosa Federal University, Minas Gerais State,
Vicente Casali and his team have, since 1995, been developing participatory research aimed at
popularising homeopathy amongst farmers and local communities. Further afeld, in France, there
is La Groupe International de Recherche sur l’Infnitésimal (International Research Group on Very
Low Dose and High Dilution Effects, G.I.R.I.), which was founded in 1986 and consists of more
than 100 researchers ranging from physicians, chemists, biologists, pharmacologists, physicists to
agronomists, from 22 different countries. In Italy, at Bologna University, Lucietta Betti and her colleagues in the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences are building evidence on the use of
homeopathy in crop production.
Homeopathy Applied to Agriculture
Overall, homeopathic remedies appear to be able to harmlessly restore the dynamic equilibrium in agroecosystems. In recent studies, Bonamin (2020) verifed the protective role of isotherapy (the treatment of viral and bacterial illnesses by administering dilute dosages of those
microorganisms to infected patients) in Artemia salina (brine shrimp) exposed to pesticides and
heavy metals. The treatment of Artemia cysts exposed to glyphosate and lead with the respective
isotherapy induced better adaptation of these animals to the harmful medium, reducing problems
with egg hatching and the incidence of malformations in the newborn larvae. Bonamin also
observed that the treatment of a natural water source with Phosphorus 30 CH produced signifcant changes in dipole moment in water samples harvested from different and distant locales of
the same environment.
THE APPROPRIATENESS OF HOMEOPATHY FOR AGROECOLOGY
The ethical and social potential of homeopathy lends itself well to the toolkit of alternative agricultural
movements (Kohler and Negrão, 2018), and homeopathy in agriculture is recognised as an effective
social technology (Andrade and Casali, 2011). Social technologies need to be simple, cheap, effective
and accessible to all farmers without causing dependency on costly inputs. In Brazil, integrative and
complementary practices – including homeopathic preparations – have been legislated for public use
in the national health system, as well as in organic food production systems (Brasil, 2007).
Homeopathy has been adopted by farmers from the ‘Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra’
(the landless workers’ movement) in Santa Catarina State. In 2018, in the city of Ponte Alta, 44
families, who cultivate around 200 ha, completed a 6-month training course, organised by the
Laboratory of Homeopathy and Plant Health, on the theory and practice of homeopathy, which
took place in their own communities. These farmers received homeopathic kits for general use on
their farms, with the remedies in these kits being in liquid form which allowed them to make up
different potencies for the treatment of livestock, plants and the environment. Through sharing this
knowledge in their communities, the farmers were able to empower others and build community
resilience, something which the use of purchased agrochemicals is unable to engender.
Because of its holistic nature, homeopathy also holds potential to encourage multidisciplinary
collaboration. Over the last decade, the integrative homeopathy course held at the EPAGRI station
in Lages and UDESC, Santa Catarina, has trained not only farmers, but also agronomists, veterinarians, holistic therapists, medical doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, psychologists, teachers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, all of whom attend the 150 hour-long course during which they
discuss the philosophy of science, vitality, homeopathic science, quantum methodologies and more.
Through workshops, case studies and delivering training themselves, they develop a sense of collectiveness as they experience how homeopathy can be applied in different disciplinary situations.
Other research groups, in Brazil and abroad, have also been generating knowledge and delivering extension on homeopathy. Examples are given as following. Within Brazil, there is the work
of the Research Group on Biological and Alternative Phytosanitary Controls (COBALFI) and
the Popular Homeopathy Group of Western Paraná (CAPA), both based at the State University
of Western Paraná (UNIOESTE). Paraná state also has Carlos Bonato’s team at the University of
Maringa and the Paranaense Agroecology Reference Centre which has been delivering specialised
courses in homeopathy for almost 15 years. At Viçosa Federal University, Minas Gerais State,
Vicente Casali and his team have, since 1995, been developing participatory research aimed at
popularising homeopathy amongst farmers and local communities. Further afeld, in France, there
is La Groupe International de Recherche sur l’Infnitésimal (International Research Group on Very
Low Dose and High Dilution Effects, G.I.R.I.), which was founded in 1986 and consists of more
than 100 researchers ranging from physicians, chemists, biologists, pharmacologists, physicists to
agronomists, from 22 different countries. In Italy, at Bologna University, Lucietta Betti and her colleagues in the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences are building evidence on the use of
homeopathy in crop production.