Herbert Tratter is one of those pioneers who started many years ago with the idea of not putting either copper or sulfur in his orchards and he found the solution to get there. He now works with homeopathy that he has adapted to agriculture.
The generally accepted definition of sustainable agriculture is that it is economically viable, environmentally healthful and socially equitable.
Traditional agriculture, the most practised form of agriculture around the world, became commonplace following the two world wars, as it was during that era that knowledge about chemistry greatly increased. Traditional agriculture is based on treating the soil and plants with products that are more likely than not noxious, and more likely than not synthetically produced in a laboratory. These products are used to prevent disease or pests from blighting the plant.
Organic agriculture is the environmentally friendly response to traditional agriculture. Here, the treatments used are made from natural ingredients, and the use of petrochemicals is forbidden. Working the land to combat weeds allows for a good assessment of the topsoil and subsoil.
By encompassing the natural environment in its overall vision, biodynamic agriculture aims to produce the best possible in ways that allow future generations to obtain the same – or even better – results. The soil itself is key in this type of agriculture, because it is ultimately dirt on which all life on earth depends, and in particular, the first metre of topsoil.
Claude and Lydia Bourguignon are soil microbiologists, they study, experiment, analyze in order to better understand the main wine terroirs.Guests at an oenological lunch at the Hotel Albert 1er in Chamonix on Saturday the 25th of August 2012... Throughout the conference, the customers could discover the soil as they have never seen...