The population of the world is taking a storm. The food suppliers of the world, a.k.a. farmers are acquiring all the methods needed to solve the shortage of food supply and related resources to keep the population lively. Below is a report from Statista that tells about the resources being used in the countries. It also tells the importance of regenerative agriculture that will drive the future feeding of the growing population. The stats below are descriptive enough to reveal facts and consider regenerative agriculture as the only form of agriculture.
The plan here is to feed the world. In the coming future, with the growing population, 4 billion acres of cultivated farmland, 8 billion acres of pastureland, and 10 billion acres of forest land won’t be able to feed the planet. Thus regenerative agriculture is the only option left with our planet. In this blog, we will be discussing various prospects for it. So, let’s dive into the concept.
What is Regenerative Agriculture?: A brief
Regenerative agriculture is the need of the era. Regenerative agriculture is the practice of fertility regeneration of soil through organic practices without ruining the naturality of soil. It works on a simple principle, “Treat soil better and the soil will revert the same”. Its final aim is to restore carbon from the atmosphere to the soil.
Regenerative agriculture is not just the restoration of carbon, but it’s also the restoration of micro-organisms, growth of cells, nitrogen-fixing plants, etc., to the soil if it’s lost the desire of your farmland. It takes a lot to find cultivating soil that can yield crops, maintain biodiversity, and withstand the worst of natural crises. Furthermore, with organic practices, it is simple to restore soil health.
In addition to the above fact, regenerative agriculture is also about increasing the efficiency of soil without cutting down forests. It also involves waste land or land without usage. The idea here is to increase the farming capacity of the earth to become future-ready.
Some Types or Techniques of Regenerative Agriculture
As we have already discussed, regenerative agriculture is not just about increasing forest area to infuse carbon into the atmosphere into the soil. But, it’s also about making the soil last longer in terms of fertility, usability, and withstanding the worst of the earth’s atmosphere. Let us hereby discuss the types in detail.
1. No-Till and pasture cropping
This type of regenerative farming/agriculture says, “disturb no soil”. In this type of farming, special drillers are used to seed the cultivation plants. And, the grass here is left for grazing to animals or livestock. This helps in preventing soil erosion as well.
2. Annual Organic Cropping
Organic cropping, as we all know, is the use of organic means for crop cultivation. This type of farming is less expensive, more time-consuming and requires an equivalent amount of labouring efforts in India. But, people practice the inorganic method more because of its availability. However, this type of farming is becoming more and more trending due to consciousness among people.
3. Compost tea and compost
Compost tea increases soil fertility and improves micro-organic growth in the soil. Hence, obtaining the primary goal of regenerative agriculture. The optimal concentration of organic matter in the topsoil (almost 6 inches of it) should be 3-5%. And, hence the name.
4. Biochar and Terra Preta
In this type of regenerative agriculture, we use black carbon as the source for maintaining soil health and microbial biodiversity. Black carbon is very effective in increasing soil fertility. Research shows that black carbon can increase the fertility of the soil by more than 70 times.
5. Perennial cropping
This type of regenerative agriculture deals with potential soil erosion areas by not weeding out the soil. This saves farming costs and reduces tilling operations. The strong roots of grasses save the soil from erosion during worse economic conditions.
6. Ecological Aquaculture
In this regenerative farming, the aquatic life is protected and inhabited by nurturing them with trees and organic matter. This promotes healthy aquatic life in and around farmlands. Thus, a sustainable food chain is maintained.
Regenerative Farming Benefits: Why is it worth it?
We discussed the current situation on earth in the introduction part of this blog. And, henceforth, we very well understand that regenerative agriculture is the need of the era. Although the production and profits due to this regenerative farming are very low as compared to industrial and mechanized farming efforts. However, people are getting more and more conscious about a sustainable future and the depleting quality of the soil.
Regenerative agriculture has not only brought sustainability but also paved the way for cleaner and greener earth with less carbonic emissions. In this discussion, let us ponder about some specific points of why is it of utmost importance:
1. Support Global Food Needs
The earth’s population is continuously growing. And hence the demand for food and related resources has also increased. Surveys show that smaller-scale farms are more than large-scale farms. So, small-scale farms supply most of the food in the world.
2. Eliminate GreenHouse Emissions
Regenerative agriculture might seem a little bit of a conventional term. As it helps restore the environment and avoid carbon emissions from the surface to the earth’s atmosphere.
3. Tackle Droughts
Regenerative agriculture is tackling droughts by restoring soil moisture, microbial life and carbon. It improves water retention and filtration.
4. Regenerate Grasslands
70% of Earth’s grassland has vanished due to modern agriculture techniques. Thus regenerative farming helps restore the earth’s carbon absorbers into its soil.
5. Raise the Nutritional Value of Crops
More is the biodiversity of the soil, the more its nutritional value. Hence, regenerative farming is necessary.
6. Helps Local Farming Communities
It helps local farming communities by helping them with employment opportunities.
The Difference Between Regenerative Agriculture and Organic Farming
| S.No. | Regenerative agriculture | Organic Farming |
| 1. | It is the practice of restoring soil health and the ecosystem around it. | This branch of farming only helps you restore the soil. |
| 2. | It solves almost every food problem the earth is facing or going to face in the future. | It solves only the problem of soil degradation. |
The Final words
Reading this blog, you might have understood that you fulfil the food needs of the earth’s growing population; we need to adopt regenerative agriculture techniques. Also, we should make people aware of the cause and make it available to the common domain.
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