Regenerative agriculture as an alternative
The problems we face in current agriculture are that our environmental emissions are still too high, soils are degrading, and water quality and biodiversity are declining.
Regenerative agriculture as an alternative
Today, agriculture faces major challenges: high environmental emissions, degraded soils, and declining water quality and biodiversity.
Alongside conventional farming, more attention is being given to organic and regenerative agriculture. But what exactly do these terms mean, and why are they considered alternatives to current food production models?
Regenerative agriculture is an innovative approach to food production focused on restoring and improving ecosystems. Because it is nature-driven, this form of agriculture combines producing food with restoring soil, ecosystems, biodiversity, and reducing emissions.
Some key design principles of regenerative agriculture include:
- Resilience: The system withstands drought, flooding, and pests, and recovers easily from damage.
- Nature-driven: Aligns with natural processes, reducing input needs and stimulating life.
- Biodiversity: Encourages diversity, which strengthens system resilience.
- Soil health: Recognizes that healthy soil is the foundation of all food production—healthy soil supports healthy plants and food.
- Polyculture: Unlike monoculture, strives to grow multiple crops and varieties for greater biodiversity, lower disease pressure, and reduced financial risk.
The advantage of this innovative way of producing food is that it provides multiple “services” beyond yields:
- Economically viable
- Produces clean water and air, and improves soil health
- Requires far fewer external inputs of raw materials and energy
- Captures CO₂ and improves water management
- Strengthens biodiversity
A well-known example is New Forest Farm, founded by Mark Shepard in the United States. This 43-hectare farm demonstrates how regenerative agriculture can be applied on a large scale:
- Mimics local ecosystems such as savannas and forests
- Produces a variety of crops, including nuts, fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms
- Runs entirely on renewable energy (solar and wind)
- Proves that ecological farming can be commercially viable
