Explorando a vitalidade na agricultura sustentavel: a efetividade de uma abordagem multi-método no cultura do morango.

• Ano de defesa: 2022
• Autor(a) principal: Faedo, Leonardo Felipe
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: eng
• Palavras-chave em Português: Agroecology; Homeopathy; Dynamized High Dilutions; Vitality; Fragaria × ananassa; Interdisciplinarity
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.udesc.br/handle/UDESC/23783

Agriculture is among the most important activities for humanity to thrive. However, the mainstream practices performed in agriculture today stem from Cartesian and mechanistic ontology and have had deleterious effects on ecosystems by significantly reducing biodiversity and contaminating soil and water with soluble fertilizers and pesticides. This approach to agriculture has ultimately threatened farmers' livelihood and food security in general. Agroecology offers a holistic model of agriculture based on biodiverse interactions, methods, and the use of non-toxic products to stimulate ecosystems’ homeostasis to eliminate the dependence of pesticides and soluble fertilizers. This study evaluates the potential use of Homeopathy and dynamized high dilutions (DHDs) as plant biostimulators to be used in the agriculture, to substitute to the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. It explores how a deeper understanding of the vitality of the agroecosystem can contribute to farming and research strategies towards sustainability. The thesis is presented in 6 complementary chapters. Chapter 1: General introduction; Chapter 2: A systematic review identifies and clusters data on the topic of vitality in agricultural research in the last 20 years; Chapter 3: Presents the results of a two year agronomical experiment testing DHDs as biostimulator on strawberries plants (Fragaria × ananassa); Chapter 4: It presents and explore the data surveyed from farmers who use Homeopathy and DHDs and, examining the impact that the method has had on their farming approach; Chapter 5: Discuss the results from the interviews with researchers, farmers and advisors who work with Homeopathy and dynamized high dilutions as a means to promote agroecosystem vitality. Chapter 6: General conclusion. The systematic review identified 21 scientific terms addressing vitality in agriculture and verified an increase of 80 % in the number of related publications since 2017. China, India, France, Germany, Poland, and Brazil were the countries with multiple publications on the subject. The results of the agronomical experiments testing DHDs as plant bio-stimulator on Fragaria × ananassa show that dynamized high dilutions (DHDs) stimulated crop production, plant growth, and development and resistance to pests and disease without the need for pesticides. Furthermore, the survey revealed that farmers perceived improvements in crop quality (80%), livestock growth (40%), ecosystem development (77%) and human health (67%). In addition, farmers reported reduced production costs (49%) and higher yields (46%) when using Homeopathy and dynamized high dilutions in their agroecosystems. Additionally, the interviews exposed how different professional backgrounds can benefit from learning about, and using, Homeopathy. More importantly, it evidences the contributions of Homeopathy and dynamized high dilutions as scientific subject with significant transdisciplinary potential. The emerging shared dialogues help spread and create new forms of knowledge aligned with the interests of sustainability and social equity. Thus, the use of Homeopathy and dynamized high dilutions constitutes a viable strategy for promoting the vitality of agroecosystems and for successfully advancing agroecological farming and research.