The Rise of Regenerative Agriculture
A surge in the development of high yielding variety of wheat and rice crops, in India, were seen and labelled as the one of the most transformative agricultural projects of the 20th Century. This transformative movement increased the scale of agricultural produce nationwide thus tackling the issue of a food deficient economy. Notable growth was seen in the states, especially Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. This movement resulted a great transition into the industrialization of the agriculture sector in India. A remarkable increase in the yield of Rice and Wheat crops were seen after the successful experimentation. A variety of crops were introduced which required less land to produce more grain and which were also disease resistant thus minimizing the spoil rate and elevate production efficiency.
The impact of famines and drought conditions coupled with poor farm level productivity caused extreme food shortages against the ever-increasing population of the country. This eventually led to the ‘Green Revolution’
But what exactly did Green Revolution do? Are we upgrading to the next chapter of the revolution with another notable development in the agriculture sector? Hold onto that thought….
Green Revolution called for an extensive growth in the agricultural production in the country with the use of modern and evolved farming techniques. Use of high yielding seed varieties, adoption of advanced equipment and irrigation facilities, use of pesticides and fertilizers, double cropping in the same farmland and expansion of the farming area.11 Schemes were included as a part of `Green Revolution – Krishonnati Yojana’. Mentioned are few of the schemes like development of horticulture practices, food security, empowerment of the farmers, research and development in plantation techniques and material, addressing agro-economic problems of the country and facilitating solutions, agricultural marketing, national e governance plan and last but not the least the national mission for sustainable agriculture.
A resurgence can be seen with the development in sustainable farming techniques in the industry in various parts of the country.
We are emerging into the next part of the revolution with massive advancements in the technology and its multi-faceted applications. Artificial Intelligence is taking over and helping in every step of the way to achieve the goals.
Regenerative Agriculture encourages us towards a more holistic approach. The approach that enriches communities and earth at the same time. These dynamic methods are meant to restore the soil quality and improve ecosystem cycles, practise planting crops helping local farmers and communities and eventually improving in sustaining the overall climate health for the future generations.
Leonard Diggs of Pie Ranch, an incubator farm in United States where he teaches regenerative agriculture says,
“We need agriculture that does not lose our carbon and does not deplete our people.”
To understand this better, we need to know more about the carbon emissions caused due to industrialization of the agricultural practises. In short, we need to reduce the carbon emissions and thus save the soil.
A substantial amount of greenhouse gases are emitted due to some aspects of the Green Revolution which contribute to the global warming and climate change. This includes the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides on large scale as the major contributor to the emission. Improving soil health, pushing methods to achieve better ecosystem and serving people with nutritionally rich crops and safe products for human consumption.
Take a quick look at the techniques to practice regenerative farming as we go deep in upcoming articles.
- Improves crop durability against climate shocks.
- Crop and land optimization
- Soil Health
- Bio Diversity
- Good fortune to the farmers.
Much of the regenerative farming is centred around carbon. Soil health and carbon emissions are in the limelight of this movement. And carbon rich soils which helps cultivate healthier plants are idealized. Regenerative agriculture helps the emitted carbon from the atmosphere to fit it into the soil using various techniques and methods. This organic compost when added to the top soil massively benefits the overall health of soil and the plant. Use of biochar is also recommended as it is rich in carbon and when added to the soil it creates a nutrient-loaded ecosystem for crops. Biochar also contributes to the mitigation of climate change by enriching the soils and reducing the need for chemical fertilizers, which in turn lowers greenhouse gas emissions. By improving soil quality and lowering the demand for artificial fertilisers, biochar also helps to mitigate the effects of climate change by lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, increases soil fertility which promotes plant growth and also helps to absorb carbon dioxide. The benefits of biochar to both agriculture and climate makes it an encouraging tool for regenerative farming.
The cumulative effort to bring about a change in order to achieve a clean and healthy environment is not far. As we move forward with the advancements in agriculture technology helping build a better ecosystem, let’s not forget other industries like food processing and supply chain linked to the agriculture further in line which also impacts and shakes the ecosystem through their individual practices.
Stay Tuned to know about de-carbonizing the food sector!