Dr David Lillis: Farming by the Stars?

Lunar Calendars for Farming?

The New Zealand Herald has just published another piece on farming according to astronomical phenomena (NZ Herald, 2025). We are told that as “Aotearoa” celebrates Matariki weekend, it is a good time to look at how Māori farmers used the Maramataka, the lunar year, to guide farming practices and that the Matariki hākari (feast) is the time to celebrate the kai that comes from the land of Kiwi farms.

Fair enough! Indeed it is of historic and cultural interest to look at how people across the world have carried out their agricultural practices over historic time. Indeed, if we find that some traditional method appears to have worked well in some aspect of agriculture, then we should subject the underlying ideas to vigorous scientific scrutiny and, if validated, support the adoption of that method throughout New Zealand’s farming community and indeed throughout the world. The same thinking should apply to any domain outside of agriculture.

We are informed that Māori represent a significant and growing part of the red meat industry and that nearly 40% of New Zealand’s meat processing workforce and more than 15% of sheep and beef exports come from Māori farming interests. Surely, such a contribution is to be celebrated.

Unfortunately, New Zealand has been through conversations about astronomical phenomena and agriculture several times before (e.g. Lillis et al., 2023 and Lillis, 2024). Smith (2023) reports a project in which farmers were told that the phases of the moon can influence plant growth and effectiveness of seed-sowing and healing properties in native plants, and were encouraged to create their own Māori lunar calendars for use on their own farms. Unfortunately, the lunar cycle appears to have little or no discernible effect on plant growth, given the small associated variations in light intensity, especially in regions of volatile atmospheric and climatic conditions. Further, we do see variation in the gravitational pull on the Earth during the 29.5-day lunar cycle, but that variation does not influence the growth or ripening of plants or crops (e.g. Mayoral et al., 2023).

Introducing Maramataka into Farming?

The NZ Herald appears to have interviewed a farmer who manages many public parks that are owned by the Auckland Council. I do not doubt the sincerity of this person, and nor is there any reason to doubt that he has considerable expertise in agriculture.

We are told that like most farmers deep in their careers, this person was guided by Western farming practices but that, as time went on, he began to learn that the methods used by his Māori ancestors were science-based and proven to work well.

“I think introducing Maramataka into farming gives you a better understanding of the Earth’s gravitational pull. When to sow, when the moon is at a certain phase.”

With respect, traditional beliefs about astronomical phenomena do not enhance our understanding of the impact of Earth’s gravitational pull on farming practice. In any case, the claim that the methods used by his ancestors were science-based and proven to work well is of great interest. What precisely were those methods and how were they validated?

We remember the motto of The Royal Society – Nullius in verba – which translates as “Take nobody’s word for it“. As such, the motto excludes traditional knowledge as science until it has been tested through the methods of science.

He claims that we “get a better understanding of when all the moisture in the ground is being drawn to the surface” and that such understanding is “more aligned with farming rather than putting a Labour weekend date on it”. This is a very bold claim, but there is no scientific evidence for it whatsoever. Further, we are told that this person has the data to prove it and that his milk production on the dairy farm at the time “lifted from 550 cows that were producing 196,000 milk solids to 480 cows producing 210,000.” It is not clear to the reader what is meant by these very large numbers of milk solids. Possibly we mean kilograms of solids but, to be fair, he makes a very interesting claim that may have validity, but one that needs to be examined further in order to determine the true reasons for the observed increase or, indeed, to rule out correlation rather than causation.

Replenishing Crops?

We are told that Māori kaitiaki (custodians) of the land had worked out a method to have the crops replenish one another. My own association with agriculture involves having low-skilled employment on farms around Dublin, Ireland, during my high school summer holidays, and having worked as a statistician for agriculture, forestry and land use in New Zealand between the years 2000 and 2007. Thus I have no direct experience in managing a farm. However, the claim that custodians of the land had worked out a method to have the crops replenish one another seems to me to be quite possibly valid.

What is concerning is that this person plans to bring the Maramataka approach to council land. If he discusses the relevant methods with experts and if those methods are verified according to science-based criteria, then we have a strong case for adopting those methods. But what if those methods are not validated? Will we nevertheless see a push to have those methods recommended to local famers?

“This way of farming or growing was done hundreds of years ago. Why has it taken us another 100 years to do the full circle?”

The fact that various ways of doing things were used by the ancients and were commonplace centuries ago is not an argument for doing them today and, in any case, what do we mean by the “full circle”? Either a claim is right or else it is wrong. If it is wrong then it has no place in the modern world and, indeed, being wrong may well explain why the claim is not supported today.

The Place of Traditional Knowledge Today

The present dialogue over traditional knowledge in New Zealand and elsewhere may originate in a confusion between science as the most widely-accepted description and explanation of the universe yet devised by humans, and the traditional knowledge of groups of people across different parts of the world. This traditional knowledge is relevant to their descendants and of great interest to modern humanity, but should not be confused with science, particularly in education.

Traditional knowledge retains value and especially for the communities that evolved those knowledges, retaining historic, cultural, religious and sometimes scientific relevance today. Unfortunately, traditional knowledges often conflate correlation with causation and include assertions about nature that are patently untrue. Most probably, the traditional knowledges of Europe and Britain were as prone to false ideas as those of other parts of the world, including the traditional knowledge of New Zealand.

Specifically, mātauranga Māori is the body of cultural knowledge of the first people to arrive and live in the islands of New Zealand. It includes observations about the world, and these observations are often interpreted in terms of myth. Other populations in New Zealand also have their traditional knowledges, derived from the knowledge systems or, rather, belief systems of their societies of origin. Similarly, their traditional knowledges embody non-scientific dimensions and often include false ideas, but no one expects these ideas to be taught as science (Lillis and Schwerdtfeger, 2021).

Finally, in accordance with Mayoral et al. (2023), we should encourage teachers, lecturers and researchers within the domains of plant sciences and agriculture, and indeed in every field of endeavour where science and technology have a bearing, to address untested or pseudo-scientific ideas objectively and promote only critical and evidence-based thinking.

Dr David Lillis trained in physics and mathematics at Victoria University and Curtin University in Perth, working as a teacher, researcher, statistician and lecturer for most of his career. He has published many articles and scientific papers, as well as a book on graphing and statistics.

References

Lillis, David (2023). Fighting for Science

https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2023/05/david-lillis-fighting-for-science.html

Lillis, David and Schwerdtfeger, Peter (2021). The Mātauranga Māori – Science Debate

https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2021/12/david-lillis-and-peter-schwerdtfeger.html

Lillis, David; Schwerdtfeger, Peter; Raine, John and Richards, Raymond (2023). Misinforming the Public

https://breakingviewsnz.blogspot.com/2023/08/david-lillis-peter-schwerdtfeger-john.html

Mayoral, Olga, Solbes, Jordi, Domenech, José and Pina, Tatiana (2023). What Has Been Thought and Taught on the Lunar Influence on Plants in Agriculture? Perspective from Physics and Biology. Agronomy.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342648175_What_Has_Been_Thought_and_Taught_on_the_Lunar_Influence_on_Plants_in_Agriculture_Perspective_from_Physics_and_Biology

NZ Herald (2025). Matariki: How the Māori lunar calendar guides sustainable farming practices

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/matariki-how-the-maori-lunar-calendar-guides-sustainable-farming-practices/NOQ4NPGFHNDA3PBKV6MD6XDDYE/

Smith (2023). Can Māori knowledge of moon phases help farm resilience? Bay of Plenty farmers gather to learn

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/waikato-news/news/can-maori-knowledge-of-moon-phases-help-farm-resilience-bay-of-plenty-farmers-gather-to-learn/6EHCDBGDXBD7PKLBWMK4P2X4EA/