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Regenerative agriculture
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
"Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. It aims to capture carbon in the soil and aboveground biomass (plants), reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation and climate change. At the same time, it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities.” - Terra Genesis International
How does it work?
The Regenerative Agriculture is based on principles and practices that include no tillage, using cover crops, crop rotation, composting, mobile animal shelters and pasture cropping. These practices help to rebuild and restore the degraded soil and at the same time, pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere retaining it in the ground. This technique not only helps to regenerate the soils and it biodiversity but also acts as great “technology” to help fighting global warming and climate change.
It’s not something new and unheard of, but instead for sometime now, science has backed this up with evidence from studies run over three decades as stated on the Rodale Institute report.
Why Regenerative instead of Traditional agriculture?
Agriculture is one of the biggest CO2 emitters. CO2 or carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Together with forestry and other land use, agriculture is responsible for just under 20% of all the CO2 humanly created. Traditional or degenerative agriculture, is heavily based in tilling which kills and destroys critical fungal networks, pulverizes soil aggregates and brings carbon to the surface which was previously been stored in the soil.
The CO2 pulled from the air plays an important role in order to achieve the regenerative agriculture’s goals. Together with water in the ground and light from the sun, they make the carbohydrates (sugars) - often called “plants food” - which are essential for plants to grow. If a conventional or degenerative agriculture is in place, there will be more CO2 and HO2 released in the atmosphere rather than oxygen, with the direct consequence of deterioration of the soil health. Conventional and non-sustainable agriculture causes the soils to become bare due to the heavy tillage. In other words, the CO2 retention in soil is compromised and the cycle broken.
In summary, when a regenerative agriculture approach is adopted soil becomes healthier and richer and the CO2 capture from the atmosphere increases, promoting a better environment which contrasts with degenerative agriculture.
"Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. It aims to capture carbon in the soil and aboveground biomass (plants), reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation and climate change. At the same time, it offers increased yields, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities.” - Terra Genesis International
How does it work?
The Regenerative Agriculture is based on principles and practices that include no tillage, using cover crops, crop rotation, composting, mobile animal shelters and pasture cropping. These practices help to rebuild and restore the degraded soil and at the same time, pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere retaining it in the ground. This technique not only helps to regenerate the soils and it biodiversity but also acts as great “technology” to help fighting global warming and climate change.
It’s not something new and unheard of, but instead for sometime now, science has backed this up with evidence from studies run over three decades as stated on the Rodale Institute report.
Why Regenerative instead of Traditional agriculture?
Agriculture is one of the biggest CO2 emitters. CO2 or carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas. Together with forestry and other land use, agriculture is responsible for just under 20% of all the CO2 humanly created. Traditional or degenerative agriculture, is heavily based in tilling which kills and destroys critical fungal networks, pulverizes soil aggregates and brings carbon to the surface which was previously been stored in the soil.
The CO2 pulled from the air plays an important role in order to achieve the regenerative agriculture’s goals. Together with water in the ground and light from the sun, they make the carbohydrates (sugars) - often called “plants food” - which are essential for plants to grow. If a conventional or degenerative agriculture is in place, there will be more CO2 and HO2 released in the atmosphere rather than oxygen, with the direct consequence of deterioration of the soil health. Conventional and non-sustainable agriculture causes the soils to become bare due to the heavy tillage. In other words, the CO2 retention in soil is compromised and the cycle broken.
In summary, when a regenerative agriculture approach is adopted soil becomes healthier and richer and the CO2 capture from the atmosphere increases, promoting a better environment which contrasts with degenerative agriculture.
Effects of switching to Regenerative Agriculture practices
If there is a shift from the conventional to regenerative agriculture practices, some the benefits will be:
If there is a shift from the conventional to regenerative agriculture practices, some the benefits will be:
- Decrease GHG emissions - Implementing regenerative agriculture practices would reduce the greenhouse gases emissions in contrast with traditional food production which is the key driver of climate change.
- Reverse climate change – Increasing the carbon sequestration into the soils as a more efficient and inexpensive practice.
- Improve yields - even in adverse climate conditions
- Create drought-resistant soil – The water holding capacity is increased due to the carbon soil retention
- Revitalize local economies – Family farming of traditional food products by regenerative agriculture will give a boost on local economies.
- Nurture biodiversity - Biodiversity is a fundamental factor to agricultural production and food security
- Restore grasslands - holistic planned grazing as a vehicle to restore land’s health
