For the first time since the inclusion of the Biocyclic-Vegan Guidelines in the IFOAM Family of Standards in 2017, biocyclic-vegan cultivation will be presented at its own international joint stand at BIOFACH in Nuremberg. Organized by BNS Biocyclic Network Services together with the Förderkreis Biozyklisch-Veganer Anbau e.V., which is responsible for the DACH region, the trade fair appearance will give visitors the opportunity to find out about the international dissemination to date and the potential of this new cultivation standard.
Applicable cultivation principles
In bio-cyclical vegan cultivation, new paths are being taken that will help solve the major challenges facing agriculture worldwide in a sustainable and, at the same time, astonishingly efficient way. It is not a matter of new cultivation methods, but of globally applicable cultivation principles that enable agriculture to make an active contribution to climate and environmental protection, to the regeneration of soils and to increasing biodiversity, while at the same time improving yields per unit area. By renouncing livestock farming for meat and prohibiting the associated, quite problematic utilization of animal waste products in agriculture (groundwater contamination, antibiotic residues, multi-resistant germs), material cycles in bio-cyclic-vegan cultivation are purely plant-based with the help of green manuring measures, mulching, mixed and permaculture as well as through the use of compost, phytoponic grafting substrate and biocyclic humus soil, which leads to the development of lasting soil fertility and noticeably improved plant health.
A total of already approx. 60 farms in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (apples, other fruits, vegetables, cereals), Hungary and Romania (oilseeds, soybeans, pulses, spelt, cereals), but also in Greece and Cyprus (citrus fruits, pomegranates, bananas, avocado, vegetables, olive oil, wine), Italy (olive oil), France (wine), the Netherlands (vegetables, ginger), Canada (wine), England (cereals, legumes) and Sweden (vegetables, herbs) demonstrate daily the wide range but also the already existing quantitative capacity of organic-vegan cultivation. By the labeling with the biocyclic-vegan quality seal, certified products are to be able to appear in the trade as "vegan from the field".
It is particularly noteworthy that under the conditions of biocyclic-vegan cultivation it is possible not only to farm in a climate-neutral way, but also in a sustainable climate-positive way. The decisive factor here is the process of transforming high-quality plant compost into carbon-stabilized biocyclic humus soil, which was developed in the Biocyclic Park in Kalamata, Greece, by the working group led by Dr. Johannes Eisenbach. This process enables enormous amounts of carbon to be permanently bound in the soil without the manifold nutrients contained therein being at risk of leaching.
Recent groundbreaking findings in the fields of microbiology and soil ecology provide the explanation for the sometimes astonishing growth results of crops growing on biocyclic humus soil and led to the establishment of the International Biocyclic Humus Soil Initiative, which among other things also gave rise to the terra plena fund. Its mission is to channel capital into rebuilding the natural fertility of agricultural soils by using biocyclic humus soil to return carbon lost over centuries to the soil, thereby closing material cycles and initiating new local economic cycles. In addition to non-profit organizations, university research institutions in the various countries are also part of the International Biocyclic Humus Soil Initiative.
Cultivation projects outside the DACH area
Within the International Biocyclic Vegan Network, BNS is responsible for the implementation of the Biocyclic Vegan Guidelines in control, advisory and cultivation practices. At the same time, BNS represents biocyclic-vegan certified growers and processors outside the German-speaking region, such as the Panhellenic Biocyclic Vegan Network in Greece and Cyprus or the currently emerging biocyclic-vegan cultivation projects in Latin America (fine vegetables, sugar cane, cashews).
Visit the company at BioFach 2023: Booth 8-413
For more information:
biocyclic-network.net
biocyclic-vegan.org
biocyclic-park.com