**1. Introduction**

According to the four principles of organic agriculture, health, ecology, care and fairness, all materials used as fertiliser to control pests must be innocuous for people, animals and environment. Those principles are mainly focused to respecting and emulating tha natural biological cycles in order to leave for future generations the same possibility of using natural resources of the planet. All materials or supplies must come preferably from the same farm to avoid introducing external risk agents and to reduce costs [1]. In this context, homoeopathy should be an alternative resource to help crop plants improve their production under several biotic and abiotic stress conditions.

Homoeopathy is a branch of universal medicine based on the 'principle of the like' (*Similia Similibus Curentur* = Like treats Like) and in minimum doses. It means that a substance in a massive dose generates pathological symptomatology; symptomatology, has the possibility of cure it, if applied in the minimum doses obtained by dilution and intense agitation, in other words, homoeopathic succussion [2]. Homoeopathy is derived from a Hippocratic concept developed by the German physician, Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843), with serially diluted medicines (1:9, 1:99, 1:999 and others) in water-ethanol vehicle alternating dilution with succussion [3]. Through this process, medicinal products were obtained, called potencies, dilutions or dynamisations, in decimal, centesimal or thousands, and others [4].

The starting point in obtaining a certain boosting curative capacity is a concentrate or mother tincture (MT), which is an alcoholic extract prepared from plants, animals, minerals and even inert materials as nanoparticulate metals [4]. Despite its high dilution, it is possible to detect molecules or nanoparticles of the 'ponderable active principle' (MT) in dynamisations, even in high centesimal dilutions (12CH, 30CH, 200CH) although according to Avogadro's theory, the dynamisation 12CH should have a single molecule of the original substance contained in the MT [5].

The principle of similarity should be understood as the parallelism between the toxic effect of a substance and its therapeutic use for the treatment of similar, but not necessarily identical, symptomatology. Some drugs used for the treatment of depression, anxiety and panic can induce panic and depressive symptoms in a healthy person when they have been homoeopathically energised by means of a dilution-succussion process [6]. The most paradigmatic and controversial aspect of homoeopathy is that these serial dilutions have a measurable effect even when they are given to an animal or a plant in infinitesimal doses, which leave no possibility of suggestion and placebo effect.

Formerly, the somewhat ethereal or subjective concept of 'vital force' was handled, which has fallen into disuse because it has been found that a large part of the effects of homoeopathic medicine are mediated by cells of the immune system [7, 8]. This is the case of ultradilutions of Aspirin® that have a platelet pro-aggregating effect, just opposite to the effects of aspirin in a ponderable dose [9], and whose action would be mediated by the COX-2 coenzyme [10].

Animal model research has its advantages, and possibly the most robust, reproduced and tested research topic in the world is the effect of thyroxine on the induction of frog metamorphosis. The effect of thyroxine in massive dose is just the opposite to the effect of the same product in homoeopathic dose [11], which has been proven by different authors in different frog species [12]. In veterinary medicine, homoeopathy is used, among others, for the treatment of foetal death in pigs (Day, 1984); control of mastitis in cattle [13] and sheep (Day, 1986); and elimination of ticks in bovines [14], salmonellosis in chickens [15] and gastroenteritis in dogs [16]. In aquaculture systems, it can be administered in food or added directly to culture water [17] to promote resistance to pathogens in stress situations and a better postinfection recovery [2, 18]. Freshwater fish, when raised in low stress conditions, have greater survival, production potential and meat quality [19]. Other relevant research topics are gonadic development and sexual maturation [20], stress response [21], physiological and neuroendocrine changes [20, 22], and growth/survival [20]. Recently published results [23, 24] have shown that aquacultural homoeopathy is able to produce measurable biological effects in marine molluscs, shrimp and fish, which trigger physiological, humoral, genomic, metagenomic and transcriptomic responses [17, 25, 26] to recover the internal homoeostasis of the treated individual, which is a synonym of health.

In the plant model, the most replicated study is the protective effect of homoeopathically ultradiluted arsenic versus the effect of arsenic itself in ponderable doses (pre- and post-treatment) on maize seeds [27]. Positive results have been achieved in prevention and control of plague organisms in the *Solanum quitoense* Lam [28] crop, in germination and initial growth of *Hancornia speciosa* Gomes [29] and in remediation of

**159**

*Agricultural Homoeopathy: A New Insight into Organics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84482*

with the Ministry of Agriculture [17, 24].

soils affected by heavy metals [30]. The homoeopathic medicine *Natrum muriaticum* has been used successfully to increase resistance to salt stress in *Solanum lycopersicum* [31]. Those previous and other published results, suggest that aquacultural and agricultural homoeopathy are viable alternatives from the economic, ecological and social points of view to contribute to the environment and extinguish the harmful footprint left on the planet by the indiscriminate use of various toxic agrochemicals [32]. The homoeopathic medical therapy establishes a principle that there are no illnesses but sick people and that every disease is only the reflection of a disturbance of the dynamic balance between the organism and biotic and abiotic elements of their environments. It is officially recognised as an alternative, holistic or integrative medicine therapy in various countries of the world where medical professionals are also trained at bachelor, master and doctoral degrees. Particularly in Mexico, the practice of homoeopathy was authorised by a presidential decree on July 31, 1895, and its study and practice are now officially recognised in the General Health Law (2015), and only health professionals can prescribe homoeopathic medicines. Homoeopathic medicines must have an official code and registration, so they differ from other products that are not medicines but herbs for infusion or herbal remedies. In countries such as Brazil, there are homoeopathic medicines for exclusive use in veterinary medicine and aquaculture of marine and freshwater fishes registered

Homoeopathy is an emerging holistic therapy whose application continues to grow

throughout the world and is gaining ground thanks to rigorous scientific research in human, animal and plant models. Due to new discoveries in the field of quantum physics, it has even been proposed to rename homoeopathy as 'adaptive network nanomedicine' [33]. As a counterpart, the official medicine known as 'allopathy' is derived from a Galenic concept: the 'principle of opposites' based on the application of massive doses of various chemotherapeutic agents. These drugs, generically synthetic, are officially classified as antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antihistamine, anti-fever, etc., which, although they can alleviate, eliminate, or conceal symptoms, invariably have side effects and contraindications. Because it can affect health, pharmaceutical laboratories must communicate and describe these risks to the

This chapter describes recent research results about the use of homoeopathic medicines (HOM) and homoeopathic treatments (HOM treatments) in vegetable model. For the purposes of this chapter, commercial homoeopathic medicines for human use have been utilised in the form of liquid hydro-alcoholic dynamisations (Similia® Laboratories, Mexico) and injectable aqueous dynamisations (Rubio Pharma®, Mexico). They were considered 'stock dynamisations' from which the respective 'study dynamisations' were obtained through a serial process of decimal or centesimal dilution-succussion. The following HOM treatments were used for plants in controlled laboratory conditions and semicontrolled conditions in the field, as dynamisations of *Natrum muriaticum* (NaM), *Silicea terra* (SiT), *Magnesia phosphorica* (MaP), *Arsenicum album* (ArA), *Zincum phosphoricum* (ZiP) and *Phosphoric acid* (PhA) and *Magnesium metallicum* (MgM) (Provider: Similia*®*, CDMX, México) and *Magnesium Manganum phosphoricum* (MaMnP) (Provider: Rubiopharma®). These and other nosode-type HOM products have been designed by CIBNOR, which is processing the respective industrial property titles (Office for industrial protection and technology transfer, OTT-CEPAT/CIBNOR, www.cibnor.gob.mx). Distilled water (DW) was used as control treatments. HOM treatments and controls are used to soak seeds and sprinkle leaf area or added directly to substrate for crop species. It is very important to consider that homoeopathy could be used in fulfilling the organic agriculture principles. Nowadays authors of this chapter are studying the

consumer on the label of the drug, following legal provisions.

effects and substance homoeopathy in organic agriculture principles.

#### *Agricultural Homoeopathy: A New Insight into Organics DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.84482*

*Multifunctionality and Impacts of Organic and Conventional Agriculture*

symptomatology, has the possibility of cure it, if applied in the minimum doses obtained by dilution and intense agitation, in other words, homoeopathic succussion [2]. Homoeopathy is derived from a Hippocratic concept developed by the German physician, Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843), with serially diluted medicines (1:9, 1:99, 1:999 and others) in water-ethanol vehicle alternating dilution with succussion [3]. Through this process, medicinal products were obtained, called potencies, dilutions or dynamisations, in decimal, centesimal or thousands, and

The starting point in obtaining a certain boosting curative capacity is a concentrate or mother tincture (MT), which is an alcoholic extract prepared from plants, animals, minerals and even inert materials as nanoparticulate metals [4]. Despite its high dilution, it is possible to detect molecules or nanoparticles of the 'ponderable active principle' (MT) in dynamisations, even in high centesimal dilutions (12CH, 30CH, 200CH) although according to Avogadro's theory, the dynamisation 12CH should have a single molecule of the original substance contained in the MT [5]. The principle of similarity should be understood as the parallelism between the toxic effect of a substance and its therapeutic use for the treatment of similar, but not necessarily identical, symptomatology. Some drugs used for the treatment of depression, anxiety and panic can induce panic and depressive symptoms in a healthy person when they have been homoeopathically energised by means of a dilution-succussion process [6]. The most paradigmatic and controversial aspect of homoeopathy is that these serial dilutions have a measurable effect even when they are given to an animal or a plant in infinitesimal doses, which leave no possibility of

Formerly, the somewhat ethereal or subjective concept of 'vital force' was handled, which has fallen into disuse because it has been found that a large part of the effects of homoeopathic medicine are mediated by cells of the immune system [7, 8]. This is the case of ultradilutions of Aspirin® that have a platelet pro-aggregating effect, just opposite to the effects of aspirin in a ponderable dose [9], and

Animal model research has its advantages, and possibly the most robust, reproduced and tested research topic in the world is the effect of thyroxine on the induction of frog metamorphosis. The effect of thyroxine in massive dose is just the opposite to the effect of the same product in homoeopathic dose [11], which has been proven by different authors in different frog species [12]. In veterinary medicine, homoeopathy is used, among others, for the treatment of foetal death in pigs (Day, 1984); control of mastitis in cattle [13] and sheep (Day, 1986); and elimination of ticks in bovines [14], salmonellosis in chickens [15] and gastroenteritis in dogs [16]. In aquaculture systems, it can be administered in food or added directly to culture water [17] to promote resistance to pathogens in stress situations and a better postinfection recovery [2, 18]. Freshwater fish, when raised in low stress conditions, have greater survival, production potential and meat quality [19]. Other relevant research topics are gonadic development and sexual maturation [20], stress response [21], physiological and neuroendocrine changes [20, 22], and growth/survival [20]. Recently published results [23, 24] have shown that aquacultural homoeopathy is able to produce measurable biological effects in marine molluscs, shrimp and fish, which trigger physiological, humoral, genomic, metagenomic and transcriptomic responses [17, 25, 26] to recover the internal homoeostasis of the treated individual, which is a synonym of health. In the plant model, the most replicated study is the protective effect of homoeopathically ultradiluted arsenic versus the effect of arsenic itself in ponderable doses (pre- and post-treatment) on maize seeds [27]. Positive results have been achieved in prevention and control of plague organisms in the *Solanum quitoense* Lam [28] crop, in germination and initial growth of *Hancornia speciosa* Gomes [29] and in remediation of

whose action would be mediated by the COX-2 coenzyme [10].

**158**

others [4].

suggestion and placebo effect.

soils affected by heavy metals [30]. The homoeopathic medicine *Natrum muriaticum* has been used successfully to increase resistance to salt stress in *Solanum lycopersicum* [31]. Those previous and other published results, suggest that aquacultural and agricultural homoeopathy are viable alternatives from the economic, ecological and social points of view to contribute to the environment and extinguish the harmful footprint left on the planet by the indiscriminate use of various toxic agrochemicals [32].

The homoeopathic medical therapy establishes a principle that there are no illnesses but sick people and that every disease is only the reflection of a disturbance of the dynamic balance between the organism and biotic and abiotic elements of their environments. It is officially recognised as an alternative, holistic or integrative medicine therapy in various countries of the world where medical professionals are also trained at bachelor, master and doctoral degrees. Particularly in Mexico, the practice of homoeopathy was authorised by a presidential decree on July 31, 1895, and its study and practice are now officially recognised in the General Health Law (2015), and only health professionals can prescribe homoeopathic medicines. Homoeopathic medicines must have an official code and registration, so they differ from other products that are not medicines but herbs for infusion or herbal remedies. In countries such as Brazil, there are homoeopathic medicines for exclusive use in veterinary medicine and aquaculture of marine and freshwater fishes registered with the Ministry of Agriculture [17, 24].

Homoeopathy is an emerging holistic therapy whose application continues to grow throughout the world and is gaining ground thanks to rigorous scientific research in human, animal and plant models. Due to new discoveries in the field of quantum physics, it has even been proposed to rename homoeopathy as 'adaptive network nanomedicine' [33]. As a counterpart, the official medicine known as 'allopathy' is derived from a Galenic concept: the 'principle of opposites' based on the application of massive doses of various chemotherapeutic agents. These drugs, generically synthetic, are officially classified as antimicrobial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antihistamine, anti-fever, etc., which, although they can alleviate, eliminate, or conceal symptoms, invariably have side effects and contraindications. Because it can affect health, pharmaceutical laboratories must communicate and describe these risks to the consumer on the label of the drug, following legal provisions.

This chapter describes recent research results about the use of homoeopathic medicines (HOM) and homoeopathic treatments (HOM treatments) in vegetable model. For the purposes of this chapter, commercial homoeopathic medicines for human use have been utilised in the form of liquid hydro-alcoholic dynamisations (Similia® Laboratories, Mexico) and injectable aqueous dynamisations (Rubio Pharma®, Mexico). They were considered 'stock dynamisations' from which the respective 'study dynamisations' were obtained through a serial process of decimal or centesimal dilution-succussion. The following HOM treatments were used for plants in controlled laboratory conditions and semicontrolled conditions in the field, as dynamisations of *Natrum muriaticum* (NaM), *Silicea terra* (SiT), *Magnesia phosphorica* (MaP), *Arsenicum album* (ArA), *Zincum phosphoricum* (ZiP) and *Phosphoric acid* (PhA) and *Magnesium metallicum* (MgM) (Provider: Similia*®*, CDMX, México) and *Magnesium Manganum phosphoricum* (MaMnP) (Provider: Rubiopharma®). These and other nosode-type HOM products have been designed by CIBNOR, which is processing the respective industrial property titles (Office for industrial protection and technology transfer, OTT-CEPAT/CIBNOR, www.cibnor.gob.mx). Distilled water (DW) was used as control treatments. HOM treatments and controls are used to soak seeds and sprinkle leaf area or added directly to substrate for crop species. It is very important to consider that homoeopathy could be used in fulfilling the organic agriculture principles. Nowadays authors of this chapter are studying the effects and substance homoeopathy in organic agriculture principles.
