We can ensure that, together with forestry and other land uses, agriculture is responsible for approximately 25 percent of all man-made GHG emissions.
But what is true is the great role it plays in ending this crisis, and creating a safe and sustainable future without carbon pollution. That is, to have the possibility of providing our growing world population with fresh and healthy food grown in a sustainable soil ecosystem.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that taking advantage of the mitigation potential in the sector [Agriculture, forestry and other land uses] is extremely important to meet the emission reduction objectives.
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
Regenerative agriculture consists of a system of agricultural principles and practices to obtain the rehabilitation and improvement of the farm's ecosystem, providing greater health of the soil, with attention also to water management, fertilizer use and more.
It is an alternative method of cultivation, and that should be the only one, which manages to improve the resources it uses, instead of destroying or depleting them, according to the Rodale Institute.
Importance of Regenerative Agriculture
The long list of incredible benefits for farmers and their crops offered by this technique is evident, but also the practices of regenerative agriculture combat the climate crisis by extracting carbon from the atmosphere and sequestering it in the soil.
Regenerative agricultural practices give another benefit, and that is that they improve soil biodiversity and organic matter, which leads to soils that are more resistant to the impacts of climate change such as floods and droughts. As a consequence, these healthier soils generate strong yields and nutrient-rich crops, also reducing erosion and runoff, which improves the quality of water inside and outside the farm.
Dealing with Climate Change Impacts
The health and vitality of the soil everywhere, from the backyard garden of your house, to the largest farm, plays an integral role in food production, and is threatened by the climate crisis.
In addition to rising temperatures that are themselves changing where and how things can be grown, the climate crisis has fundamentally altered the water cycle around the world. The result is shifting precipitation patterns and increased evaporation that causes more-frequent powerful rainfall events and more severe droughts. In many areas, rainfall has become either increasingly abundant or in desperately short supply, relative to longtime averages. It’s a classic case of feast or famine.
Extreme downpours can cause contaminated runoff and erosion, because the soil does not have sufficient capacity to absorb precipitation at the rate at which it falls. And if a flood occurs, plants can drown. The other end of the spectrum can also occur, a smaller amount of rainfall, along with an increase in heat, which causes more and more drought and, in extreme circumstances, desertification can occur, leading to a complete loss of agricultural production in some areas.
As far as agriculture is concerned, climate change is causing existing problems, to the point that they are critical. But if a farmer is using regenerative methods and is not altering the soil, he mitigates a great deal of the effects of climate change, by generating organic matter. And the more organic matter you have in the soil, the more water retention capacity you will have.
Adopting regenerative farming practices helps farmers cope with climate change, by making their farms more resilient and adaptable to what is happening, since they can take measures to combat it in the long term by being part of a solution. extends to the crisis, through carbon sequestration.
Helping in Agriculture Growth
When plants perform photosynthesis, they take carbon dioxide from the air and, using the sun's energy, water and nutrients from the soil, transform it into carbon that the plant uses to grow leaves, stems and roots. The excess carbon created through this process is transported down the plant and stored in the surrounding soil, sequestering the carbon in the soil.
This carbon is called soil organic carbon and feeds microbes and fungi, which in turn provide nutrients for the plant. This carbon is the main component of soil organic matter, providing more structure to the soil and allowing it to store more water.
Carbon remains in the soil for thousands of years, or is rapidly released into the atmosphere when preparing the soil for planting by mechanical agitation methods such as digging, stirring and dumping.
As you can see, regenerative agriculture is beneficial for everyone, since it leads to better and more resistant crops, cultivated using sustainable methods that, at the same time, fight a crisis that represents a threat to all agriculture.
And that is why some of the world's biggest brands are joining sustainable farming techniques.
Many manufacturers of some of their favorite cereals, granola bars and other foods, support regenerative agriculture in multiple ways. Some of these large companies have partnered with other organizations to develop resources and training to help farmers adopt these practices, including regenerative sourcing programs for some of their brands, allowing consumers to identify food from farms verified in techniques for increasing water, soil and climatic health.
How Regenerative Agriculture Works?
If you want more information you can read the following key techniques involved in regenerative agriculture:
Conservation Tillage
Plowing and tillage erode the soil and release large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, also giving rise to a type of soil that creates a hostile environment for important soil microbes.
When farmers adopt null or low tillage techniques, they are contributing to minimizing the physical alteration of the soil and, over time, increasing the levels of soil organic matter, creating healthier and more resilient environments for plants to thrive, as well as maintaining more and more carbon where it should be.
Diversity
The functions of plants in sustainable agriculture are varied, such as releasing different types of carbohydrates (sugars) through their roots, and several microbes feed on these carbohydrates and return all kinds of nutrients to the plant and soil.
By increasing the diversity of plants in their fields, farmers manage to create rich, varied and nutrient dense soils that lead to more productivity.
Rotation and Cover Crops
If the soil is exposed to the elements, it will erode and the nutrients necessary for better plant growth will dry out or in the worst case they will disappear. Another fact to keep in mind is that planting the same plants in the same place can generate an accumulation of some nutrients and the lack of others.
But by rotating crops and deploying cover crops strategically, farms and gardens can obtain soils with more organic matter from the soil, often avoiding diseases and pest problems naturally.
Mess with it Less
In addition to minimizing physical disturbances, the majority of professionals in regenerative and sustainable agriculture is cautious with the chemical or biological activities they perform and which can also damage soil health in the long term.
Incorrect application of fertilizers and other soil treatments can alter the natural relationship between microorganisms and plant roots.
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