The Evolution of Regenerative Farming
The comeback necessary for 🌀sustainable food supply!
Once upon a time chemicals in farming was considered a revolution globally. It made yields explode and the farming process faster! Initially, the damage was not significant but with time its many disadvantages became clear. As yieldds exploded, so did health issues like cancer, environmental costs not limited to pollution and soil degradation, and even deforestation negatively impacting biodiversity. Much like how dating apps have made finding the one harder, chemical food production has hurt the ecosystem.
With this realisation, there is a clear need to revert to the ‘old ways’ of growing using regenerative farming methods considered better for man and earth. With more nutrition and lower carbon creation from regeneratively grown produce, this move is a no-brainer. However, the cost of this transition remains a challenge. The industrialization of agriculture makes it difficult to be profitable as a regenerative farmer!
The imbalance of carbon creation and economic reward in farming impacts smallholder farmers the most as they practice regenerative farming at scale. Nonetheless, they earn lower economic rewards per acre in comparison to commercial farmers (high-carbon producers).
Organic Farming vs Regenerative Farming
The last decade has seen a shift from focusing on organic farming to regenerative farming. The former focuses on organic fertilizer use such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal and places emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and companion planting. While the latter has a broader focus on creating positive ecological outcomes through agriculture.
The general principles of organic production as defined by the Canadian Organic Standards (2006) include:
- protecting the environment, minimizing soil degradation and erosion, decreasing pollution, optimizing biological productivity and promoting a sound state of health
- maintaining long-term soil fertility by optimizing conditions for biological activity within the soil
- maintaining biological diversity within the system
- recycling materials and resources to the greatest extent possible within the system
- providing attentive care that promotes health and meets the behavioral needs of livestock
- preparing organic products, emphasizing careful processing, and handling methods in order to maintain the organic integrity and vital qualities of the products at all stages of production
- relying on renewable resources in locally organized agricultural systems
Benefits of Organic Farming
- Eco-friendly method: Organic farming discourage use of harsh chemicals on the soil so the environment remains protected.
- Better nutrition to help us stay healthy: Organic farmers use natural farming techniques that are not harmful to human consumption or the environment. It gives us a better chance against deadly diseases.
- Lower Prices:Organic products are cheaper to produce contrary to popular belief, because they don’t require the application of expensive chemicals. The same cannot be said for end-consumers who spend more on organically grown produce.
Regenerative Farming making a Comeback
Using data to provide end-to-end farm-field level traceability of carbon creation Farmz2u seeks to scale regenerative farming. With data on the lower environmental costs associated with produce grown by smallholder farmers, their produce can be priced at a premium thus providing higher economic reward that can scale their operations and help them sustainably grow more produce.
