According to United Nations projections, the population of the world is set to hit about 9.8billion in 2050. It raises the obvious question of how the world is going to feed itself, given that the total arable land available for food production is fixed or could even shrink due to creeping urbanisation and climate change, amongst other things.
We're clearly going to have to increase food production. According to Agronomist Mitch Hunter,
"The common prescription is for a “sustainable intensification” of agriculture that both increases yields and reduces the harmful side effects of tilling and fertilizing billions of acres of land. "
This seems like a tall order since ramping up production necessarily entails putting more strain on the land. Indeed, the term 'sustainable intensification' itself may be an oxymoron. The only real sustainability it could be argued is where human intervention is solely to direct Nature's beneficent hand.
Just such an arrangement has been proven in a remarkable agricultural experiment carried out in Vienna where 'vibrated ' water was used to increase crop yield. A write up of the experiment is given below bur first what is 'vibrated' water?
What is 'vibrated' water?
As all schoolchildren know, a water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms bonded to one oxygen atom and written as H2O.
The structure of the water molecule can be depicted as below:
It turns out that the stereochemistry of a molecule has a big bearing on the properties of that molecule. Just how big a bearing is demonstrated in the stereochemical property known as chirality or the concept of left-handedness or right-handedness in a molecule.
An everyday encounter with chirality is when we purchase citrus fruit from the supermarket. The lemons and oranges may smell different but it's the same limonene that produces the smell. What's different is that the limonene in lemons and oranges are chiral twins - in lemons, the limonene is "right-handed" and in oranges it's "left-handed". The twins are called stereoisomers.
It's well-known in drug research that the one stereoisomer of a molecule could have biological effect whereas the other stereoisomer might have none. This is shown in illustration below:
So what this shows is that some modification to the stereochemistry of a water molecule could give it properties that have a biological effect that it would not otherwise have.
Slideshow of results of agricultural experiment viewable here.
The Sunflowers at Pratisthan
Comments by H.H.Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi:In Sahaja Yoga, you take the ordinary seeds and you vibrate them. If you vibrate them, then what happens that you start getting seeds which are even better than hybrid. I tried an experiment with a sunflower; so I developed a sunflower about 2 kilo weight, about one foot diameter and such big, big seeds, that you can’t make them out to be sunflower seeds, so the collective was so amazed at it and they felt that this kind of seed will solve all of our oil problem.
(Shri Ganesha Puja, Madrid, Spain, 6/11/87)
Material development is much faster and in balance when you get Self Realization. These vibrations help agriculture very much. We have a scientist, Dr. Hamid, in Austria, who has experimented with vibrations and has found out that even non-hybrid seeds give you greater than hybrid seeds. In my own field I sowed about 60 kilos of rice in one acre of land. And they told me: “It’s a special rice. It won’t grow here.” But it turned out to be 1700 kilos. One of the best rices. And even the sunflower was so big, two feet diameter. You could not lift; one person could not lift. Giving oil six to ten times more!
(Press Conference, Sofia, Bulgaria, 25/7/90)
Dr Hamid's (Hamid Mehrani-Mylany) account of experiment with 'vibrated' water.
The effect of vibrated water on plant growth
The first study we made to test the effect of
vibrated water on different kinds of plants took place on 27th May,
1986. The experiment was made on a 300m2 block of land with the
foundations of a building nearby. We were able to use the electricity
supply from this building to construct an automatic watering system.
This small farm was situated about 15 kilometers east of Vienna,
Austria.
1. Climate
The weather data was provided by the weather observation station in Enzersfield. It was a rather rainy summer with an average rainfall of 54.5mm during the test period. The average temperature during the test period was 24.50C and in this area quite a strong north-west wind was blowing which dries the soil very rapidly. Because of the late setting up of the test area it was heavily overgrown with annual and perennial weeds. That is why the field was sprayed with Gesaprim on the 25th May.
The weather data was provided by the weather observation station in Enzersfield. It was a rather rainy summer with an average rainfall of 54.5mm during the test period. The average temperature during the test period was 24.50C and in this area quite a strong north-west wind was blowing which dries the soil very rapidly. Because of the late setting up of the test area it was heavily overgrown with annual and perennial weeds. That is why the field was sprayed with Gesaprim on the 25th May.
2. Preparation of the soil
The soil type was brown earth i.e. sandy, clay and loam. For this experiment we did not analyse the soil because it was not necessary or helpful. As we began late it was not possible to supply any sort of fertilization.
The soil type was brown earth i.e. sandy, clay and loam. For this experiment we did not analyse the soil because it was not necessary or helpful. As we began late it was not possible to supply any sort of fertilization.
3. Pattern of experiment
The test area was divided into four strips, each 4m x 20m = 80m2 in size. Each strip was sub-divided into four plots each 4m x 5m = 20m2 in size. I selected sunflowers which grow well in this type of soil and maize which is planted by the local farmers of this area.
4. Irrigation The test area was divided into four strips, each 4m x 20m = 80m2 in size. Each strip was sub-divided into four plots each 4m x 5m = 20m2 in size. I selected sunflowers which grow well in this type of soil and maize which is planted by the local farmers of this area.
The “drip irrigation” system from the firm “Salen”, Vienna 21, was chosen. Normal drinking water from the building was brought to the field via a 1 inch hose, from which 3 half inch hoses were connected. In order to cut out the possibility of human error, the irrigation equipment was automated with the help of one seven day timer and two 24 hour timers and three magnetic valves. Seven days after setting up the farm, on 4 June, 1986, the irrigation was put to operation. The test area (i.e. vibrated and unvibrated areas) was irrigated for 1½ hours from 1.00 a.m. to 2.30 a.m. early in the morning. After 30 days irrigation took place once a week, also for 1½ hours each time. On 26th October, 1986, irrigation was suspended. The water was vibrated at a certain point in the test area.
5. Discussion
Photographs and graphs were taken at different stages of the plants development, the vibrated plants were greener, more vital and showed significant lead in their growth over the unvibrated plants. The vibrated water not only activates the growth of the plants, it also enlarges and improves the sprouting potential of the seeds. For example, the sprouting ratio of sunflowers rated normally between 75% – 80%. Through the use of vibrated water the ratio was increased to about 95% – 100%. Because of the high germination ratio and the strong growth of the plants in the vibrated portion of the test area, you can well imagine this caused a severe competition for space, water and light. Such a condition usually inhibits the growth of plants but despite the density in the vibrated plot, its harvest was about 20-25% better than the control plots.
Photographs and graphs were taken at different stages of the plants development, the vibrated plants were greener, more vital and showed significant lead in their growth over the unvibrated plants. The vibrated water not only activates the growth of the plants, it also enlarges and improves the sprouting potential of the seeds. For example, the sprouting ratio of sunflowers rated normally between 75% – 80%. Through the use of vibrated water the ratio was increased to about 95% – 100%. Because of the high germination ratio and the strong growth of the plants in the vibrated portion of the test area, you can well imagine this caused a severe competition for space, water and light. Such a condition usually inhibits the growth of plants but despite the density in the vibrated plot, its harvest was about 20-25% better than the control plots.
