The 36th GIRI conference held in October 20231 - an academic-scientific partnership among the GIRI society -Groupe International de Recherche sur l ́Infintésimal, the American Institute of Homeopathy –AIH, and the Faculty of Homeopathy, London, UK, - examined the increasing body of evidence for homeopathy via thirty one rigorously peer-review papers presented as videos, to consider homeopathy’s role in the many urgencies of, infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, aging populations, multi-morbidity, polypharmacy, sustainability, and environmental factors.
Special emphasis was placed upon the emerging evidence that homeopathic products may help mitigate climate change impacts on agriculture –making plants and animals more bio-resilient –while also reducing the need for agricultural chemicals known to cause environmental harm, included below are abstracts of the presentations by international agro-homeopathy researchers.
ROUND TABLE AGRO-HOMEOPATHY
This round table discussed how agro-homeopathy could help mitigate food production and sustainability troubles, and included;
The trouble of antimicrobial resistance in plants and the need for new technologies.
Improvement of organic crops using homeopathy and how it can open workers’ consciousness about sustainable production.
The potential of homeopathy on plant bio-resilience face to climate change.
Keywords: Fungicide resistance, Agroecology, High dilutions, Plant Vitality, Crop Development, Plant stress, Soil quality.
Professor Sydney Everhart (USA): Fungicide resistance is an economically important phenotype that, when present in pathogen populations, can be an underlying driver of disease outbreaks when fungicides applied are no longer effective.
There are already 203 species of fungal plant pathogens reported to have fungicide resistance, which is an increasing concern. Nationally, fungicides account for a 50% yield increase for 22 major crops in the U.S., which accounts for 97 billion pounds of food and fiber, valued at $12.8B [1]. Among the 45 active ingredients on the market, there exist only 10 modes of action [1, 2], which is the fundamental unit to which resistance develops. New modes of action are sought and rarely discovered, so relying on this option to replace modes of action that are no longer effective is not realistic. Moreover, developing a new product is estimated to take about 10 years and cost $200M. Fungicide resistance is costly for manufacturers, growers, and the environment; nevertheless, mechanisms driving the emergence of resistance remain unknown.
Interestingly, antibiotic-mediated stress has been shown to increase mutation rates in bacteria, leading to the emergence of antibiotic resistance. Although this is a recognized risk for fungicides, far less is known about fungal evolution in the context of fungicide-induced stress, and while studies on fungicide-induced mutagenesis in the scientific literature, the results remain complex and continue to fuel the dose-rate debate.
[1] Gianessi, L.P. & N. Reigner. 2005. The value of fungicides in U.S. Crop Production. Crop Protection Research Institute, CropLife Foundation, Washington D.C. pp. 243.
[2] FRAC. 2018. FRAC Code List 2018: Fungicides sorted by mode of action (including FRAC Code numbering). Fungicide Resistance Action Committee, CropLife Foundation, Washington D.C. pp. 14.
Dr. Leonardo Faedo (Brazil/UK): Agriculture needs sustainable farming methods. In particular, the strawberry crop (Fragaria ananassa), one of the world’s most important berries, has faced serious problems related to the application of high volumes of pesticides, compromising food and environmental security.
The use of dynamized high dilutions (DHD) has shown promising results in agricultural research, particularly regarding its bio-stimulation effect on cropping systems. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the bio-stimulation effect of DHDs in strawberry cropping systems.
The experiment was carried out at the University of Santa Catarina State (UDESC) in Lages –Brazil, in 2019 and 2021, in a controlled environment using a randomized block design (RBD) and following a double-blind treatment application. The experiment tested mineral-based DHDs: Sulphur 12CH, Phosphorus12CH, Kali 12CH, Calcarea 12CH, Silicea 12CH, Natrum 12CH, Mercurius 12CH, having deionized water 12CH and deionized water as controls. The treatments were applied fortnightly.
The agronomical attributes assessing plant vitality considered crop production, fruit quality, plant disease, plant growth and architecture, leaf chlorophyll content, and root system development. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and when significant (≤ 0.05) by Dunnett’s test.
The results show that the DHDs of Calcarea and Sulphur increased root system development. Plants treated with DHDs of Sulphur and Silicea were less affected by Mycosphaerella. The DHDs of Sulphur, Phosphorus, and Kali increased plant growth and crop yield. The DHDs of Natrum and Mercurius were not effective as plant biostimulators in strawberry plants. The results of this study evidence the potential of dynamized high dilutions (DHDs) as plant biostimulators and their contribution for sustainable farming systems.
Professor Fateme Mirzajani (Iran): Healthy cultivation and production of agricultural products with the least amount of toxins and the highest possible efficiency is the demand of farmers and consumers.
The agricultural products market is interested in protecting their health, the environment, plants, animals, and humans, and reducing prices. The most important challenge for farmers, researchers, and managers in the field of agriculture is to find a way to create the least amount of pollution and side effects, theability to reduce, control, and treat problems and diseases of soil, water, and plants, and finally increase the quality, health, and cost of the products.
Today, the use of Ultra High Diluted compounds (UHDs) to produce a product without the use of biocides has been developed along with maintaining the quality and health of the soil and the environment [1, 2]. Due to the personal interest and needs of the scientific and agricultural community and for research and practical investigation of ultra-diluted compounds, we have been investigating UHDs.
Studies include three main parts:
1-Chemical and phytochemical investigation of plants (ornamental plant as a model) treated UHDs under physical stress (temperature variation) in the stage of seed germination and seedling growth [3];
2-Biochemical and physiological investigation of plants (Oryza sativaL. as a model) with UHDs under physical stress (light and temperature variation) and pathogens (bacterial infection) in the stage of seed germination and seedling growth [4];
Studying the characteristics of crops and harvested crops (Oryza sativa L. as a model) with UHDs treatment for two agricultural years. Accordingly, during the first year, we studied the physicochemical and biological properties of the soil, and in the second year, we studied the quality of cultivation and some chemical characteristics and health of the final product.
In all cases, the results showed that the use of ultra-high diluted compounds compared to the negative control (placebo), positive control (toxins in cultivation cases), and control (no treatment) with healthier growth, proportional crop production, and less pollution, improved root quality and Soil is included.
[1] Nanoscience and Nanotechnology-2020. 10 (3), 316-329.
[2] International Journal of High Dilution Research-2020 (2-3), 02-15.
[3] International Journal of High Dilution Research-2021 (1-2), 39-55.
[4] International Journal of High Dilution Research-2023 (cf), 51-64.
Prof. Leoni Villano Bonamin, DVM, MSc, PhD.
Homeopathy and the environment - Environmental issues and the needs for mitigating anthropic actions are urgent. In homeopathy, isotherapeutics is a common practice in treating intoxications to minimize symptoms and facilitate the clearance of the toxic substance from the body.
It is known that Artemia spp. is an aquatic experimental model for eco-toxicological trials; their embryo skills to enter diapause when in a harmful environment is a promising model for understanding bio-resilience processes. Thus, our group organized a series of experimental studies using Artemiaspp. to evaluate the plausibility of using isotherapeutic products to mitigate the biological impact of toxic agents in water. Glyphosate, mercury chloride, and saxitoxin from cyanobacteria were the studied intoxicants.
The results point toward a facilitation effect of isotherapics and other homeopathic preparations in inducing diapause, delaying hatching, and expressing HSPs (heat shock proteins) genes. Moreover, solvatochromic dyes can be used as probes to track homeopathic signals in water, laboratory, or field conditions. The potential usefulness of these preparations in reducing the environmental impact in states of water contamination is discussed.
Keywords: Environmental homeopathy, Artemia spp, isotherapeutics, bio-resilience, solvatochromic dyes.
Holandino et sl., 2023. Editorial-Proceedings of the XXXVI GIRI meeting. International Journal of High Dilution Research. 22(2):01-20. Available from: https://www.highdilution.org/index.php/ijhdr/article/view/1419