Impact of biofield treatment on ginseng and organic blueberry yield

Abstract

This study tested the Null Hypothesis for the effect of BioField Energy applied to two separate crops under typical growing conditions, namely ginseng and organic blueberry in commercial plantings in Wisconsin and California, respectively. Following treatment to replicated plots in standard experimental design, data were collected at harvest for yield quantity and quality. Ginseng plants treated both pre-harvest and a combination of pre- and post-harvest showed market grade increases of 33.3% and 40.0%, respectively. Point of sale gross return for this crop is dependent upon tuber quality, and from these data the economics of these treatments were calculated. Based on stand adjusted yields and quality values, a combination of pre- and post-harvest treatment increased gross income by 57.4%. The second crop showed similar trends in positive responses. In the two blueberry varieties studied, Emerald treated plants showed 96% statistical increase in yield, while Jewel showed 31% increase. At the time of treatment, each variety was in a different stage of flowering. The Emerald variety was in the flowering stage, and Jewel was predominately in the fruiting stage. Both treated cultivars however demons-trated increased yield quantity and quality. The specific mechanisms that lead to these pre-liminary results need further investigation.

Full text

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AGRIVITA VOLUME 35 No. 1 FEBRUARY - 2013 ISSN : 0126-0537
IMPACT OF BIOFIELD TREATMENT ON GINSENG AND
ORGANIC BLUEBERRY YIELD
Frank Sances1), Eric Flora1), Shrikant Patil2*), Amy Spence1), and Vishal Shinde1)
1) Pacific Ag Research, 1840 Biddle Ranch Road, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 United States of America
2) Trivedi Foundation, 15111 Hayden Road Suite 160 #305, Scottsdale, AZ 85260 United States of America
*) Corresponding Author Phone: +1-877- 493-4092 E-mail: shrikant@trivedifoundation.org
Received: October 10, 2012/ Accepted: March 4, 2013
ABSTRACT
This study tested the Null Hypothesis for the
effect of BioField Energy applied to two separate
crops under typical growing conditions, namely
ginseng and organic blueberry in commercial
plantings in Wisconsin and California, respectively.
Following treatment to replicated plots in standard
experimental design, data were collected at
harvest for yield quantity and quality. Ginseng
plants treated both pre-harvest and a combination
of pre- and post-harvest showed market grade
increases of 33.3% and 40.0%, respectively.
Point of sale gross return for this crop is
dependent upon tuber quality, and from these
data the economics of these treatments were
calculated. Based on stand adjusted yields and
quality values, a combination of pre- and post-
harvest treatment increased gross income by
57.4%. The second crop showed similar trends
in positive responses. In the two blueberry
varieties studied, Emerald treated plants showed
96% statistical increase in yield, while Jewel
showed 31% increase. At the time of treatment,
each variety was in a different stage of flowering.
The Emerald variety was in the flowering stage,
and Jewel was predominately in the fruiting
stage. Both treated cultivars however demons-
trated increased yield quantity and quality. The
specific mechanisms that lead to these pre-
liminary results need further investigation.
Keywords: crop yield, biofield treatment, ginseng,
blueberry
INTRODUCTION
Information-containing biofield energies
surrounding living organisms are postulated to be
involved in their self-regulation processes (e.g.
Rubik, 2002). In the field of complementary and
alternate medicines, some attempts have been
made to define a biophysical basis for such
energies and to lay down some guidelines for
clinical studies (e.g. review by Movaffaghi and
Farsi, 2009). The energies have often been
investigated in the past but their impact has never
been consistent enough to be scientifically non-
controversial in laboratory measurements. Both
the NCCAM (National Center for Complementary
and Alternative Medicine in the US) and the ACS
(American Cancer Society) have issued
statements that biofield energy therapies are not
supported by available scientific evidence at this
point of time (ACS, 2011; NCCAM, 2007).
However biofield energies due to intentional
mental energies transmitted by specific energy
healers have increasingly been shown in recent
times to have scientifically measurable impact on
matter, on microbes and also on plants. From the
time of Descartes the basic assumptions of
science have progressively concluded that such
energies can be ignored in normal scientific
models of the material world, and the
development of many noteworthy technologies
has been the result. Nevertheless, the finding that
biofield energies are able to directly influence
matter, and more specifically, that they can
influence the development and self-expression of
living organisms, is of value to science. It is
therefore necessary to determine the nature of
the impact, scientifically integrate it into models
and develop technologies to use such influences
in beneficial ways if they are proven to be
consistent and reproducible.
Recent studies by Trivedi and Tallapragada
(2008, 2009) claim quantifiable transformations in
the physical and structural properties of organic and
inorganic materials due to such biofield energy.
They report that elemental diamond, graphite and
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Frank Sances et al.,: Impact of Biofield Treatment on Ginseng………………………………………………………………..
activated charcoal powders showed measureable
and significant changes in their molecular
structure after the transmission. Dabhade et al.
(2009) similarly show that measurable changes in
particle size and hence surface area as well as
crystallite size of antimony and bismuth metal
powders resulted from the same external biofield
treatment which they suggest may have caused a
relatively high energy state to occur within the
treated substances. Recently in Yount et al.
(2012) brain cancer treated in vitro from a
controlled laboratory setting was shown to be
positively inhibited in a biofield therapy dose
response. With regard to plant life, Patil et al.
(2012) reported results from this energy of
consciousness on micro-propagation response of
Patchouli. The source of energy treatments used
in these studies was a specific technique by an
internationally well-known healing energy
practitioner and his student whose names are not
mentioned here in accordance with recommended
best scientific practice, but can be provided on
demand for replication experiments. As information-
containing energies are here involved, with a
symbiotic intention, it may be expected that living
materials would be able to show the impact more
effectively. While the impact on humans can be
accounted for by the placebo effect, experiments
on plant systems can show whether such placebo
effects are necessarily involved. However the in
vitro experiments reported above show significant
results which display some intrinsic variability in
the controlled laboratory conditions and in early
tissue growth stages. To test such an energy,
and to better establish whether plants are able to
participate in such energy transfers, an in vivo
testing may show more consistent results due to
the larger adaptive challenges faced by samples
in the field. In this paper we report on the results
of crop quality and yield of treated and untreated
commercial ginseng and organic blueberry
plantings.
Five year old perennial blueberry bushes of
the Emerald and Jewel variety and ginseng
commercial plantings were tested through use of
biofield energy. As the objective was to conduct
a blind study, plots were allotted for treatment in a
randomized fashion and the location of treated
plants remained undisclosed to evaluators during
the study.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The experiments were conducted from July
to November 2011 at sites of Pacific Ag
Research in Wisconsin and California, USA. For
both ginseng and organic blueberry studies,
established plants were treated and allowed to
develop according to the season. Untreated
plants were allowed to develop according to the
season in the same manner alongside the treated
plots in a randomized fashion (Randomized
Complete Block experimental design) as controls.
Ginseng plants are subjected to a cleaning and
drying process post-harvest during which there
are further changes in texture, color and other
characteristics important in their final grading. In
order to further compare the impact at this
vulnerable stage, some ginseng plants were
treated twice (3 months before harvest and/or
after harvest before processing) referred to as
treatments A (pre-harvest only), B (post-harvest
only) and AB (both pre- and post-harvest).
Ginseng was a grower’s cultivar and was planted
2.5 years prior to biofield treatment.
The Ginseng was located in central
Wisconsin.Two blueberry cultivars, Emerald and
Jewel, were used and treated only once.
Treatment of the blueberry bushes occurred on
the same day, with Emerald bushes at the bloom
stage during treatment, and the Jewel variety
past flowering and in the early fruiting stage.
Both varieties were 5 years in age and well
established at the time of treatment. Blueberries
were located in Central California.
Treatment
The energy source individual was escorted
to the field, maintaining a short distance
(approximately 1 meter) from the plants to be
treated, and was observed to focus targeted
mental energy (referred to as the biofield)
towards the established plants for approximately
three minutes. In the case of tandem applications
to the Ginseng, the length of time between
treatments (A and B) was 88 days. The healing
mental intention is not directly measureable at
present; however the nature of the results was
used as an indicator.
Crop Parameters
Treated and untreated ginseng plants were
located in separate plots measuring 3.35m by
1.52 m in a randomized design on silt loam soil.

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Frank Sances et al.,: Impact of Biofield Treatment on Ginseng………………………………………………………………..
Treated and untreated organic blueberry plants
were planted in separate plots measuring 3.05m
by 18.29 m on clay loam soil. In both crops,
treatments were performed on four replicate plots
paired with 4 replicate untreated plots in the same
block. All plot locations were maintained
undisclosed to evaluators (blind study). During
the study, irrigation occurred as per standard
grower practice. Blueberries were drip irrigated
and ginseng was irrigated by natural rainfall.
Grower’s customary farming practices were
utilized in both cropping system.
Evaluations
Ginseng:
Ginseng roots were harvested from ground
at 88 days after the first biofield treatment (A),
treated again (B) post-harvest before processing
and allowed to dry for 12 days, after which they
were weighed. They were blind assessed by a
commercial ginseng buyer for marketable grades
on a 1-4 scale, with 4 recognized as very high
quality, 3 above average, 2 fair quality, and 1 was
at or below acceptable quality. Standard
commercial estimations were used for the grading
which is normally based on color, shape and
texture of the ginseng roots, as described in the
document for ginseng quality standards prepared
by the United States Department of Agriculture
(2007). After the roots were individually sorted
and rated, the ratings were analyzed for each
treatment, with calculation of average. Gross
return based on first point of sale from grower
was calculated as follows: 1s=$30, 2s=$38,
3s=$48, and 4s=$64, based on 2011 pricing.
Retail pricing is 100% greater than wholesale
based on current pricing (Ginseng and Herb Co-
Op in Wausau Wis.) Total yield was adjusted
based on the proportion of stand count in the
control plots versus each treated plot.
Organic Blueberry
Evaluations consisted of assessing yields
from each blueberry variety including marketable
and unmarketable weights.
Data Analysis
Statistics were analyzed using ANOVA
mean comparison with LSD test and α=0.05.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Ginseng
Ginseng roots harvested from plants with
two treatments (TAB) showed improved market
grade compared to other treatments (Figure 1).
An average root rating of harvested dry ginseng
is based on root quality in terms of texture, shape
and color, on a 1-4 scale with 4 recognized as
being very high quality, 3 is above average, 2 is
fair, and 1 is below average quality. A single
biofield treatment after harvest (TB) had no effect
on root quality, both TB and control plants (C)
had root ratings of 2.4. Ginseng plants, and
treated pre-harvest showed root ratings of 3.0.
However, the combination of the two biofield
treatments, both pre- and post-harvest showed a
synergistic effect, with the greatest root rating of
3.2. This effect is further shown in Figure 2.
Although a single treatment post-harvest
increased market grade by 6.7% compared to the
C, plots treated pre-harvest (TA), and the
combined pre and post-harvest treated plots
(TAB) demonstrated an increase in market grade
quality of 33.3% and 40.0%, respectively. At the
initial treatment, stand counts in the C plots were
8.5 per plot compared to an average of 7.6
(±0.03) in all of the treated plots (data not shown).
Based on the final plant stands in all plots, a
calculation was made for yield adjustment. The
foundation for this calculation is based on the
growing environment of ginseng; plants require
only indirect light and mulched moist soils with
unlimited soil moisture which in turn could support
increased yields beyond the stand count. The
hypothesis that there is a linear relationship
between stand during the growing season with
ginseng yields is supported by Park et al. (1987).
When yields were adjusted with final stand
differences between C plots and each treated plot
at initial infield biofield treatment, a 22.1%
increase in total yield (lb/acre) was observed from
the TAB plots (Figure 3).

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Frank Sances et al.,: Impact of Biofield Treatment on Ginseng………………………………………………………………..
Figure 1. Root rating of harvested dry ginseng, based on root quality 1-4 scale with 4 recognized as very
high quality, 3 is above average, 2 is fair, and 1 is below average quality. a,bStatistical
differences are inclusive to each variety
Figure 2. Percent increase of stand-adjusted market grade ginseng compared to control plots.a,bStatistical
differences are inclusive to each variety

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Frank Sances et al.,: Impact of Biofield Treatment on Ginseng………………………………………………………………..
Figure 3. Adjusted total yield (lb/acre) of dry ginseng roots harvested.a,bStatistical differences are
inclusive to each variety
Figure 4. Adjusted gross return ($/acre) of dry ginseng roots harvested.a,bStatistical differences are
inclusive to each variety
The first-point-of-sale gross return from
the C plots yielded $90,285 compared with
$94,087, $108,956 and $139,545 obtained from
TB, TA, and TAB, respectively (results not
shown); gross return based on first point of sale
from grower is calculated dependent upon
ginseng quality (1-4 scale). Based on stand-
adjusted yields and ginseng quality assess-
ments, there was an increase in gross income of
30.6%, 10.9%, and 57.4% from TA, TB, and TAB,
respectively, shown in Figure 4. A combination of
treatments as presented here may suggest a
synergistic effect; the biofield treatment created
healthier and more vigorous plants, resulting in
increased root quality and subsequent yields, by
unknown processes beyond the scope of this
study.
Organic Blueberry
Table 1 shows the number of marketable
berries harvested from Emerald and Jewel
varieties. Both treated Emerald (TE) and treated

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Frank Sances et al.,: Impact of Biofield Treatment on Ginseng………………………………………………………………..
Jewel (TJ) plants resulted in greater weights of
marketable berries in seven out of eight picking
dates, compared to the control plants. For
example, on the first picking date, 832.5
blueberries were harvested from TE plots
compared to 422.3 blueberries in the CE plots.
Further, on the 7th harvest, TE plants had a
statistically greater amount of fruit harvested,
253.5 blueberries, compared to CE at 166.5
blueberries. Total harvest yield, Figure 5, from
all Emerald pickings was significantly greater for
TE plots compared to CE plots with the number
of total blueberries harvested at 3,351.8 and
1,862.0, respectively. TJ plots also showed a
greater total yield of 9,754.5 blueberries compared
to CJ plots at 8,303.8 blueberries, although not
significantly different. Out of eight harvests, TE
and TJ plants showed a 96% and 31% increase in
yield compared to the untreated plants,
respectively (Figure 6). As stated, each blueberry
variety was at a different growing stage at
treatment; Emerald plants were in the flowering
stage while Jewel plants were in the early fruiting
stage. This may explain why the Emerald variety
displayed an elevated improvement following
biofield treatment than the Jewel variety since
Emerald plants had a longer period of time to
respond to the applied biofield treatment and
hence subsequent yields were increased.
Table1. The weight (g) of blueberries harvested, over the course of eight pickings
Remarks: a,b Statistical differences are inclusive to each variety
Figure 5 Total blueberry yield for Emerald and Jewel varieties. a,bStatistical differences are inclusive to
each variety

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Frank Sances et al.,: Impact of Biofield Treatment on Ginseng………………………………………………………………..
Figure 6. Percent increase in yield for treated Emerald and Jewel varieties compared to control plots
Thus it is seen that in repeated harvests
the yields were consistently higher in both
blueberry varieties against all expectations of
probabilities, and the increase was also signi-
ficant in one cultivar. These results support the
reports in the literature. Similar trends are also
seen in the ginseng crop. Numerically the yields
and quality of ginseng over multiple replicates
and four different treatments have shown
consistent improvement in treated crops in each
case. Moreover, the improvement in gross return
is the minimum at 10.9% in case of a post-
harvest treatment (TB), in which assessments
were performed after 12 days, while the
combined treatment of both pre- and post-harvest
(TAB) has shown the maximum effect at 57.4%
and the pre-harvest treatment (A) administered
100 days before evaluation of results has shown
an intermediate result of 30.6% improvement. As
seen by the uniformity of trends in these results
and in previously published studies, biofield
energy affected blueberry and ginseng plants by
processes yet to be established, which resulted in
greater amounts of harvest from treated plots.
It, thus, becomes evident that further
experimentation is necessary with more in-depth
investigation to elucidate possible underlying
mechanisms or causal processes for the results
reported herein. The results are consistent with
studies already reported in the literature and
further studies are increasingly showing similar
results; hence it is apparent that the current
paradigm provides a sufficient model for such
studies to probe the beneficial interaction of
biofield energies and plants. It is therefore
necessary that these findings are discussed and
further investigated by science, using objective
and systematic methodologies in order to
address misconceptions and/or standard
assumptions associated with the phenomenon
and derive useful models for prediction and
analysis of such results. The scope and extent of
the influence in these cases also need further
study, through systematic monitoring of various
growth parameters and treatments at different
stages of growth. In the case of ginseng, the
benefits of these treatments included higher root
quality ratings resulting in greater gross return
yields. In the case of blueberries, there were
greater total yields over the course of a season
for two different varieties. However, while
adequately replicated statistically, these studies
still represent a single test at a single site for each
crop for the 2011 season. Nevertheless, the
reported results have confirmed the ability of the
biofield technique to increase yield and profit-
related parameters in these two species. Future
studies are warranted in order to further probe
these trends.
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTION
Biofield treatments have been seen to
beneficially impact yield and profit-related

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Frank Sances et al.,: Impact of Biofield Treatment on Ginseng………………………………………………………………..
parameters in ginseng and blueberry crops,
improving overall quality as well as quantity of
yield in the field. Further studies on various
stages of plant growth are required to determine
the scope of the influence as well as to probe
underlying mechanisms, whereas the study here
has established the ability of the plants to
respond to the treatment.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project was supported by the Trivedi
Foundation, AZ, USA.
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