Following Dr Julia Wright’s initial interview on agroecology, she discusses her interesting current research: Quantum Agriculture.
Quantum agriculture explores and investigates the non-material invisible dimension of agriculture for the purpose of building a more resilient food system.
It draws on our increasing understanding of quantum science and its application into, for example, physics and biology. Through quantum science, we are starting to understand more about the human brain, the impacts of our thoughts, as well as our relationship with nature and how nature works. Quantum biology is quite a popular subject now and there is a well-known scientific broadcaster- Jim Al Khalili who is often on the radio and television in the United Kingdom- he is a quantum biologist. Since we have quantum biology, and agriculture is an offshoot of biology, we can certainly have quantum agriculture.
In the Global South, people practice prayer, chanting, rituals and planting according to the lunar calendar. There are lots of aspects of farming practices linked with nature. But because the western mind doesn’t know how these phenomena work, it tends to ignore them. We are hoping to conduct research on, say, the influence of sound waves on seed germination and that’s something quite basic that most people can understand. At the other end of the scale, it does become more spiritual or sacred and we are talking about more direct communication with nature, which some people can do still, and that is a truth, it is not just a belief system. It seems to me that if we can have a good relationship and communicate with nature, we are going to be able to farm better.
Quantum agriculture benefits farmers, farming families as well as consumers. More people are interested in this now. For example, 80 young people studying permaculture who I spoke to at the International Permaculture Conference in India last November were all completely interested in this because they are already questioning reality, doing meditation and so on. They are asking questions about what’s going on in the world, so they can understand the quantum dimension more easily than a conventional farmer.
Albert Einstein said everything has a particle dimension and a wave dimension.
If we only look at the particle dimension, we are ignoring half of life. In agriculture, we are only looking at the particle dimension, and I’m saying, let’s look at the wave dimension as well.
Quantum agriculture is rooted in the practice of hundreds of thousands of farmers over millennia. It supports indigenous farmers around the world. It supports the idea of cognitive justice, that is, indigenous farmers have the right to live by the world views that they hold and to farm in that way.
For more on quantum agriculture, see:
CAWR projects webpage.
Wright J, H Kieft & S Von Diest (2017) Quantum-Based Agriculture: the Final Frontier? Proceedings of the Scientific Track “Innovative Research for Organic Agriculture 3.0” 19th Organic World Congress, New Delhi, India, November 9-11, 2017, Vol 1 p.107-110.
