What Has Been Thought and Taught on the Lunar Influence on Plants in Agriculture? Perspective from Physics and Biology
1
Department of Science Education, Universitat de València (UV), Avda. Tarongers, 4, 46022 Valencia, Spain
2
Botanical Garden UV, Universitat de València, Calle Quart, 80, 46008 Valencia, Spain
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Agronomy 2020, 10(7), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10070955
Received: 30 April 2020
/
Revised: 1 June 2020
/
Accepted: 17 June 2020
/
Published: 2 July 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Physiological and Molecular Characterization of Crop Resistance to Abiotic Stresses)
This paper reviews the beliefs which drive some agricultural sectors to consider the lunar influence as either a stress or a beneficial factor when it comes to organizing their tasks. To address the link between lunar phases and agriculture from a scientific perspective, we conducted a review of textbooks and monographs used to teach agronomy, botany, horticulture and plant physiology; we also consider the physics that address the effects of the Moon on our planet. Finally, we review the scientific literature on plant development, specifically searching for any direct or indirect reference to the influence of the Moon on plant physiology. We found that there is no reliable, science-based evidence for any relationship between lunar phases and plant physiology in any plant–science related textbooks or peer-reviewed journal articles justifying agricultural practices conditioned by the Moon. Nor does evidence from the field of physics support a causal relationship between lunar forces and plant responses. Therefore, popular agricultural practices that are tied to lunar phases have no scientific backing. We strongly encourage teachers involved in plant sciences education to objectively address pseudo-scientific ideas and promote critical thinking.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
plant growth; agriculture; traditions; pseudo-science; lunar phases; physics; biology; education
▼
Show Figures
Graphical abstract
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Mayoral, O.; Solbes, J.; Cantó, J.; Pina, T. What Has Been Thought and Taught on the Lunar Influence on Plants in Agriculture? Perspective from Physics and Biology. Agronomy 2020, 10, 955. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10070955
AMA Style
Mayoral O, Solbes J, Cantó J, Pina T. What Has Been Thought and Taught on the Lunar Influence on Plants in Agriculture? Perspective from Physics and Biology. Agronomy. 2020; 10(7):955. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10070955
Chicago/Turabian StyleMayoral, Olga, Jordi Solbes, José Cantó, and Tatiana Pina. 2020. "What Has Been Thought and Taught on the Lunar Influence on Plants in Agriculture? Perspective from Physics and Biology" Agronomy 10, no. 7: 955. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10070955
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
