Regenerative Agriculture: Cultivating Earth's Health

If we want to face the climate crisis and avoid the catastrophic consequences that it could bring, we must propose solutions on several fronts that are up to the challenge, supported by climate science and that have the potential to scale rapidly.

When we think about the root causes of global warming, we tend to point to the burning of fossil fuels as the activity responsible for the climate crisis. However, there are other important sources of emissions that go unnoticed in many conversations. When we make cement, plow the land and cut down forests, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, which contributes significantly to global warming. The problem becomes even more serious when it comes to activities that release methane into the atmosphere: it has a warming potential between 28 and 34 times greater than carbon dioxide. Some sources of this gas are livestock, landfills and operations associated with the natural gas industry.

All of these activities point to a single conclusion: If we want to face the climate crisis and avoid the catastrophic consequences that it could bring, we must propose solutions on several fronts that are up to the challenge, supported by climate science and that have the potential to scale rapidly.

Fortunately, there are groups of scientists who today are thinking about and evaluating the different options we have not only to reduce the amount of emissions that are generated, but also to see how we can lower the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases that have already accumulated. To this end, a coalition of scientists specializing in different disciplines was created to draw up a comprehensive list of climate solutions that have the greatest potential to both reduce emissions and to sequester them. One of the most promising solutions that can provide multiple benefits is regenerative agriculture.

This solution consists of implementing a series of practices that have the capacity to restore floors that have been degraded by conventional agricultural practices, for example: Reduce soil tillage, practice crop rotation, reduce the amount of external nutrients that are added and thus promote soil fertility, use the minimum of commercial pesticides or fertilizers or eliminate them and plant cover crops. Together, by 2050 these practices have the potential to reduce CO2e** in the atmosphere by 23.15 Gt* and to generate savings of approximately 1.93 trillion USD; their cost of implementation is estimated at 57.2 billion*** For this reason, the implementation of regenerative agriculture techniques could bring net economic and environmental benefits to ecosystems and farmers and, at the same time, contribute significantly to the reduction of the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases.

Because of the soil's ability to absorb and capture carbon dioxide, it functions as a carbon sink. Carbon sinks play a vital role as they help to reduce the concentration of greenhouse gases and, therefore, to mitigate climate change. Regenerative agriculture techniques allow soil to improve carbon dioxide absorption capacity, increasing the amount of organic matter. When carbon is absorbed in the soil, beneficial microbial life proliferates, soil texture improves, roots reach deeper depths, earthworms carry organic matter through their holes and produce more nitrogen, nutrient uptake increases, water retention increases several times, and plants are better nourished and more resistant to pests. All of this contributes to little or no chemical fertilizer being required. It has even been estimated that each additional percentage of carbon stored in the soil is equivalent to $300-$600 USD of fertilizer stored in the soil.

Due to the great potential of regenerative agriculture, several companies have announced that they will invest in the implementation of these practices in a variety of crops. Both PepsiCo and Unilever announced in 2021 that they will work with farmers within their value chain to implement regenerative agriculture techniques. In addition, Nestlé announced that it will invest approximately 1.8 billion dollars in regenerative agriculture to contribute to its efforts to reduce its emissions by 85%.

Making changes towards sustainability is essential for a company looking to the future, and making agriculture regenerative is one way of doing this for relevant sectors. Toroto has the technical and operational capabilities to help companies interested in this transition and to implement regenerative agriculture techniques in various crops. If you are interested in learning more, contact us!

* Gigatonnes
**Equivalent unit of carbon dioxide
***Source: book “Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming” by Paul Hawken, published in 2017.