Broadly, regenerative farming is an approach that tries to conserve, rather than exploit, the natural ecosystems.
Over 10% of the total land area on earth is used for crop production, and about 40% of total land area is classified as agriculture-suitable land by the FAO. Using regenerative practices is perhaps the only sustainable approach while utilizing such a massive area.
There is no formally accepted definition of what constitutes regenerative farming. However, key focus areas for this type of farming are topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, and improving the water cycle. Specific processes include integrated pest management, use of cover crops and intercropping, sustainable tilling and harvesting, optimized grazing, and effective use of agroforestry practices.
Along with other benefits, regenerative farming practices hold significant promise especially for the soil sequestration of CO2.
While there could be short term challenges under this approach, with the right processes, and when done taking a holistic view of farmland operations, regenerative farming can increase the profitability of farms, while reducing risk and crop loss.
Despite broad scientific consensus on its multiple benefits, regenerative farming practices are not yet practised on a large scale worldwide. But the 2020-2030 period could see a big change in this context. For this period, expect significant innovations in regenerative agriculture to be centered around carbon trading, soil carbon measurement, cover crops, composting, agroforestry approaches, and efficient livestock integration with farming.
While most experts favour the regenerative approach to agriculture for its inherent sustainability, there is diversity of views when it comes to its decarbonization potential.
One estimate by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine estimates that soil sequestration has the potential to eliminate over 250 million metric tons of CO2 per year in the US alone, equivalent to 5% of U.S. emissions.
At the same time, regenerative agriculture is more nuanced, and currently, there are no reliable empirical data that correlate regenerative agriculture to CO2 sequestration.
At this stage of the sector evolution, one can state that regenerative agriculture presents many proven sustainability benefits for agriculture, and will play an important role - directly or indirectly - in cultivation of crops with a low carbon footprint.
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Regenerative Agriculture Decarbonization Avenue
