Regenerative agriculture is beginning to be seen as a potent weapon in the war against climate change, as farmers, governments and large companies begin to realize the ability of the technique to capture carbon, improve the soil and increase biological diversity. This integrated model of farming is gradually picking up across the globe, and holds a lot of potential for a better and sustainable way of farming and management of the environment.
New research has shown that regenerative practices can contribute a lot towards carbon storage. A Nature study shows that if regenerative agriculture is practiced on a large scale, it would be possible to store 322 billion tons of CO2 within the next 25 years, which is equivalent to 9. 7 years of the current global emission rate. This has attracted the attention of policymakers who are in the process of seeking for the most efficient means of mitigating climate change.
In the United States, the Department of Agriculture has recently started a $1 billion pilot program to fund farmers shifting to regenerative agriculture. The programme is one of the measures of the Biden administration’s climate plan, which will offer funding and support to farmers using practices such as cover cropping, minimum tillage, and crop diversification.
Many large food processing companies are also going big on regenerative agriculture. Regeneratively, General Mills has pledged to support the restoration of 1 million acres of farmland by the year 2030 while Danone is supporting its dairy farmers to practice regenerative agriculture throughout the value chain. To be specific these corporate initiatives are offering the necessary support and incentives for farmers to move to better practices.
So the concept of regenerative agriculture is not just about carbon sequestration, as many people may think. Those farmers who are using these practices explain that their soils are healthier, they retain water in greater quantities, and are less susceptible to adverse effects of climate shocks. In the south of Australia where drought is common regenerative farmers have been able to sustain production during periods of drought that severely affected other neighboring conventional farming units.
Another benefit area that regenerative practices positively impact is the aspect of Biodiversity. A detailed investigation conducted in Britain revealed that agricultural practices that embrace the use of regenerative practices supported 50% more wildlife species than the conventional ones. This enhanced bio-diversity benefits the ecosystem and also acts as natural pest repellent thus eliminating the need for chemical pesticides.
Sustainable grazing techniques are revolutionizing the livestock farming by presenting an approach to make cattle production more eco-friendly. As such, these techniques can help rehabilitate the grasslands, enhance soil quality, and possibly bring the cattle industry to carbon-zero or even carbon-plus. This is rather important since the livestock industry is one of the leading sources of greenhouse gases emissions.
It is noteworthy that the financial sector has started paying attention to the possibility of regenerative agriculture. The concept of impact investment and sustainable finance is creating new financial instruments that would help in shifting to regenerative economy. For instance, Rabo AgriFinance has recently released a $10 billion credit plan focused only on regenerative agriculture projects, which proves that investors are becoming more confident in the profitability of such initiatives.
Technology is now becoming the key enabler of regenerative agriculture. Machinery, decision support systems, and remote sensing systems are aiding farmers to practice and manage regenerative farming techniques. Companies such as Indigo Agriculture is applying satellite imagery and AI in measuring carbon stocks in the soil to allow the development of markets for carbon credits for regenerative farmers.
On the one hand, there is no doubt that regenerative agriculture is a good practice and that it helps to restore the soil; on the other hand, there are still obstacles to the large-scale implementation of this practice. The transition period can be financially stressful to the farmers and there is still lack of sufficient data to determine the overall profitability and sustainability of these practices in the long run. Furthermore, the awareness and knowledge of the farmers are vital to enable the farmers to adopt the regenerative methods.
In response to these issues, multi-stakeholder initiatives are slowly developing throughout the agricultural value chain. Farmer-to-farmer information exchange and farmer networks are being formed to exchange ideas and practices, and research institutions and NGOs, and private sectors are supporting the farmers for change.
:Policy support is also changing to a form that will support regenerative practices. EU’s new CAP incorporates measures for payment of farmers for public goods such as carbon storage and improvement of the biological diversity. Such measures are under discussion in other countries, because agriculture can contribute to climate and environmental objectives.
Consumers’ understanding of regenerative agriculture is gradually rising as more and more people become concerned with the environmental cost of producing food. This is opening up new markets for foods which are produced using regenerative agriculture, and some firms have established standards to assist consumers to identify these products.
Thus, regenerative agriculture stands as a solution to two of the biggest problems of the world today: feeding the population and climate change. Instead of fighting the natural forces, these farmers are feeding the world while healing the planet and drawing carbon out of the atmosphere. The next few years will be decisive in expanding these practices and attaining the full potential of these initiatives to change the food system and become part of the climate solution.
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