What is regenerative agriculture role in restoring our earth and relationship between carbon and agriculture?
Respected Sir, Regenerative agriculture plays a crucial role in restoring our Earth by improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and sequestering carbon. The relationship between carbon and agriculture is intertwined, as agricultural practices directly influence carbon cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. Regenerative agriculture practices promote carbon sequestration in the soil through increased organic matter inputs, reduced soil disturbance, and enhanced ecosystem resilience. By restoring degraded land, mitigating climate change, and fostering sustainable food production, regenerative agriculture contributes to the health and resilience of our planet.
Regenerative agriculture counters climate change and promotes food security by restoring soil, organic matter, and biodiversity as well as reducing atmospheric carbon. It's an evolving holistic nature-based approach that boosts topsoil, food production and farmers' incomes. It also improves water use and efficiency by enhancing the health and nutrient-holding capacity of the soil. Studies have established that a 1-percent increase in soil organic matter per 0.4 hectare (ha) increases water storage potential by more than 75,000 liters. Regenerative agriculture is tackling droughts by restoring soil moisture, microbial life and carbon. It improves water retention and filtration. India, with its vast agricultural land and diversity, has significant potential to implement regenerative practices, leading to increased crop productivity, soil restoration, and enhanced ecosystem services. Regenerative agriculture aims to boost efficiency and crop yields by restoring soil health and enhancing the biodiversity that underpins ecosystem services such as pollination. Climate change mitigation, food security, climate resilience, biodiversity, and soil health are all interrelated and these could be collectively achieved through regenerative agriculture.For the increase in agricultural carbon emissions, the long-term trend will lead to a certain inhibition of agricultural economic development, and every unit of increase in agricultural carbon emissions intensity will lead to a decline in the level of agricultural development in the range of 2–4%. Most carbon dioxide emissions from agriculture result from disturbance of soil organic matter (plant residues in various states of decomposition), that serves as an emissions repository, or “sink.”
To do justice to the concept of carbon farming, and in particular, regenerative agriculture, the scale of impact needs to be addressed as follows: The capacity for regenerative agriculture alone to sequester carbon is uniquely large compared to other proposed methods, when practiced on a global scale ((as much as 20 metric tonnes of carbon per hectare per year, capable of returning the world’s atmospheric carbon levels to 350 ppm within 15 years or less) https://www.soilfoodweb.com/how-it-works/#soil-carbon-sequestration) At the same time, IF the current and dominant form of agriculture is replaced, the release of other potent greenhouse gasses (methane and nitrous oxide from ruminants and inorganic fertilizers, respectively) would be greatly reduced. Lakes, rivers and oceans would benefit greatly from the nearly complete decline of residues being washed into the waterways. In addition, the large decline in the number of acres required to feed humans ( @ about ¼ acre per person, about 2 billion acres from the current 11.2 billion acres, conservatively) would make over 9 billion acres available for other types of carbon farming, as well as for the restoration of wildlife that would result from reforestation and afforestation, as well as restoration of grasslands for grazing animals.
Regenerative agriculture has the potential to capture and store atmospheric CO2 in the soil. This process also improves soil fertility, resulting in more productive and resilient agricultural systems.
Although carbon farming has the capacity to reverse climate change, its implementation on a global scale needs to happen rapidly. "Earth for All - A Survival Guide for Humanity" is an excellent document which describes how to achieve the multidimensional "Giant Leap" that is necessary. Otherwise, most of what we're doing exemplifies the alternative of "Too Little, Too Late".
Regenerative agriculture is “way of farming to build and improve soil fertility, whilst sequestering and storing atmospheric CO2, increasing on-farm diversity and improving water and energy management”. Regenerative agriculture is a potential solution to minimize the physical, biological, and chemical disturbance of the soil and keep the soil covered with vegetation or natural materialand increase plant diversity. It also improves water use and efficiency by enhancing the health and nutrient-holding capacity of the soil that a 1-percent increase in soil organic matter per 0.4 hectare (ha) increases water storage potential by more than 75,000 liters. Regenerative agriculture techniques by keeping living roots in the soil, cover crops reduce soil erosion, increase water retention, improve soil health, increase biodiversity, and more. They can be planted during harvest time or in between rows of permanent crops. India, with its vast agricultural land and diversity, has significant potential to implement regenerative practices, leading to increased crop productivity, soil restoration, and enhanced ecosystem services. Regenerative agriculture is based around observable improvement to ecological and social function of the farm and community, organic agriculture is more about a set of rules to follow which are mostly things not to do. i.e. don't use synthetic pesticides. Widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture will be important to effectively and systematically address some of today's most pressing challenges such as climate change, food security and nutrition, water and soil quality, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods. Agricultural production directly contributes to climate change through significant emissions of methane and nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide warms the planet 296 times more than carbon dioxide (CO2), and methane warms it 23 times more than carbon dioxide (CO2). For the soil carbon pool, the main input processes include straw mulch, green manure, fertilizers and irrigation, while soil respiration is the main output process. Human activities are the main factor influencing vegetation and soil carbon. It leaks from plant roots as food for soil microorganisms that bring nutrients to the plants. It's contained in plant roots that provide foods for soil microorganisms. It provides structure in regenerating soils to help resist against soil erosion.
Rk Naresh Barry Bruce Zeehan Ahmed Himanshu Tiwari
Regenerative agriculture plays a vital role in restoring our Earth by promoting practices that enhance soil health, biodiversity, water conservation, and ecosystem resilience. The relationship between carbon and agriculture is central to regenerative practices, as they focus on increasing soil organic matter and sequestering carbon from the atmosphere into the soil. Here's how regenerative agriculture contributes to restoring our Earth and the relationship between carbon and agriculture:
1. Carbon Sequestration: Regenerative agriculture practices such as cover cropping, crop rotation, no-till farming, agroforestry, and holistic grazing promote the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere into the soil through the process of photosynthesis. Plants absorb CO2 during photosynthesis and convert it into organic carbon, which is then stored in the soil as soil organic matter. Increasing soil organic matter content not only helps mitigate climate change by reducing atmospheric CO2 levels but also improves soil fertility, structure, and water retention.
2. Enhanced Soil Health: Regenerative agriculture focuses on building healthy soils rich in organic matter, beneficial microbes, and diverse plant and animal life. Healthy soils act as carbon sinks, storing large amounts of carbon while supporting robust plant growth, nutrient cycling, and ecosystem services. By improving soil health, regenerative practices enhance agricultural productivity, resilience to climate variability, and overall ecosystem functioning.
3. Reduced Emissions and Pollution: Regenerative agriculture minimizes the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and other agrochemicals that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, soil degradation, and water pollution. By adopting organic and agroecological approaches, regenerative farmers reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact while promoting biodiversity, pollinator habitats, and natural pest control mechanisms.
4. Water Conservation and Resilience: Regenerative agriculture practices such as agroforestry, conservation tillage, and rotational grazing improve water infiltration, retention, and availability in soils, reducing erosion, runoff, and water pollution. Healthy soils with high organic matter content can hold more water, buffer against droughts and floods, and support sustainable water management in agricultural landscapes.
5. Biodiversity Conservation: Regenerative agriculture promotes biodiversity by providing habitat for diverse plant and animal species, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and supporting ecological balance. By preserving natural habitats, restoring degraded lands, and integrating native vegetation into agricultural landscapes, regenerative farmers create corridors for wildlife, promote genetic diversity, and enhance ecosystem services such as pollination, pest control, and soil fertility.
In summary, regenerative agriculture plays a crucial role in restoring our Earth by sequestering carbon, enhancing soil health, conserving water, promoting biodiversity, and reducing environmental impacts associated with conventional agricultural practices. By fostering a symbiotic relationship between agriculture and the environment, regenerative practices contribute to climate resilience, food security, and sustainable development goals, leading to healthier ecosystems, communities, and economies.
Rk Naresh Rohit Kumar Zeehan Ahmed Himanshu Tiwari
In addition to having a uniquely large capacity for carbon sequestration, regenerative agriculture can also improve human health through the mycorrhizal transfer of essential nutrients to edible plants.
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