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Activity 1
Activity 1
In groups allocated one of the following terms, discuss the meanings of:
'organic', 'sustainable', permaculture', 'conservation' , 'agroecology' and 'regenerative'? 30 mins
In the report back, discuss between groups the similarities and differences in meaning of each. 30mins
Resources
Resources
Does regenerative Agriculture live up to the hype?
See interactive table on right....and definitions below
Click to see 'how regenerative, organic and agroecology interrelate
Definitions
Definitions
Regenerative agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that seeks to rehabilitate and enhance the entire ecosystem of the farm by placing a heavy premium on soil health with attention also paid to water management, fertilizer use, and more. It is a method of farming that “improves the resources it uses, rather than destroying or depleting them,” Rodale Institute.
Regenerative Agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil, biodiversity – resulting in both carbon drawdown and improving the water cycle. Specifically , it is a holistic land management practice that leverages the power of photosynthesis in plants to close the carbon cycle, and build soil health, crop resilience and nutrient density ‘Kiss the Ground
Regenerative agriculture combines crops and livestock in circular ecosystems; essentially, the animals feed the plants, and the plants feed the animals. The regulated grazing of sheep or cows, for example, encourages plant growth, and distributes natural nutrients back over the land in the form of dung. Poultry also fertilises land, as well as eating unwelcome bugs and weeds. EIT Food is Europe’s leading food innovation initiative, working to make the food system more sustainable, healthy and trusted.
Conservation Agriculture is "an ecological approach to regenerative sustainable agriculture and ecosystem management based on the practical application of context-specific and locally adapted three interlinked principles of: (i) Continuous no or minimum mechanical soil disturbance (no-till seeding/planting and weeding, and minimum soil disturbance with all other farm operations including harvesting); (ii) permanent maintenance of soil mulch cover (crop biomass, stubble and cover crops); and (iii) diversification of cropping system (economically, environmentally and socially adapted rotations and/or sequences and/or associations involving annuals and/or perennials, including legumes and cover crops). These practices are complemented with other good agricultural production and land management practices. Conservation Agriculture systems are present in all continents. "
Discussion
Discussion
There are a wealth of terms like Permaculture, Agroecology, along with Organic, Conservation, Sustainable and Syntrophic Agriculture.
How does 'Regenerative farming' compare with these?
" Regenerative agriculture is a term coined back in the 1980s in the USA and it is centered on the concept of soil health (*), aiming to restore its organic matter content and ecological functionality, boost its productivity and increase its resilience. Regenerative agriculture is identified by the Drawdown project as one key solution to suck CO2 out of the atmosphere and lock it in the soils, and is also one of the ten critical transitions identified by the FOLU to transform food and land use globally. ...
Regenerative agriculture has gained further attention in relation to “carbon farming”, due to its potential to sequester CO2 when degraded agricultural soils are progressively restored. " Jabier Ruiz WWD in Forum for Future in Agriculture.
CA v Regen
CA v Regen
The differences and communalities of "Regenerative Agriculture" and "Conservation Agriculture". Conservation Agriculture is a well-established term that is recognized at United Nations level, whereas Regenerative Agriculture is not.
Two similar approaches based on similar principles
Conservation Agriculture uses three principles that define minimum levels explicitly (e.g. diversification with at least 3 crops),
RegenAg reflects the same three principles without generally accepted definitions (some people are more ambitious, others may use this ambiguity to be less ambitious). RegenAg lists two or three additional principles (is the whole-farm approach now generally accepted in the RegenAg community? Who can make that claim, from which position of authority?).
Similar criticism:
Conservation Agriculture is criticized by some that it is too much oriented to large-scale corporate farming, with fairly minimal standards. Yet, ConservAg predates GMO-Glyphosate farming by decades!
Regeneration Agriculture is criticized for not having ANY broadly accepted standards, opening up doors for corporate greenwashing, while claiming to be something better than ConservAg.
Both movements may want the same thing and share much:
struggle with the same power dynamics and the same types of corporate co-option.
Both approaches share the same tension between deep, whole-farm management approaches (cover crops, underseeding, crop rotations, grazing integration, ...) and a shallow approach that uses certain technologies (e.g. no-till + glyphosate + 3 GMO crops = RegenAg claims plus lots of weed resistance?!?).
Both movements wonder whether the narrow technological approach can be an entry point for a deeper, more holistic management approach.
So how do the two movements relate to each other? Is there a role of CA around cash cropping, within the vibrant RegenAg family? Are we just using two terms for the same thing? Are we in two separate echo chambers?
More specifically, by introducing RegenAg as a new concept, the movement is losing the connection to 40 years of extension work and knowledge building throughout the CIGAR system; it is losing the bridge into the UN system that was essential for promoting ConservAg globally.
Would it make sense to host a high-level panel between RegenAg advocates and ConservAg advocates, and join forces?
The differences and communalities of "Regenerative Agriculture" and "Conservation Agriculture". Conservation Agriculture is a well-established term that is recognized at United Nations level, whereas Regenerative Agriculture is not.
Two similar approaches based on similar principles
Conservation Agriculture uses three principles that define minimum levels explicitly (e.g. diversification with at least 3 crops),
RegenAg reflects the same three principles without generally accepted definitions (some people are more ambitious, others may use this ambiguity to be less ambitious). RegenAg lists two or three additional principles (is the whole-farm approach now generally accepted in the RegenAg community? Who can make that claim, from which position of authority?).
Similar criticism:
Conservation Agriculture is criticized by some that it is too much oriented to large-scale corporate farming, with fairly minimal standards. Yet, ConservAg predates GMO-Glyphosate farming by decades!
Regeneration Agriculture is criticized for not having ANY broadly accepted standards, opening up doors for corporate greenwashing, while claiming to be something better than ConservAg.
In the end, I believe that both movements want the same thing and share much:
struggle with the same power dynamics and the same types of corporate co-option.
Both approaches share the same tension between deep, whole-farm management approaches (cover crops, underseeding, crop rotations, grazing integration, ...) and a shallow approach that uses certain technologies (e.g. no-till + glyphosate + 3 GMO crops = RegenAg claims plus lots of weed resistance?!?).
Both movements wonder whether the narrow technological approach can be an entry point for a deeper, more holistic management approach.
So how do the two movements relate to each other? Is there a role of CA around cash cropping, within the vibrant RegenAg family? Are we just using two terms for the same thing? Are we in two separate echo chambers?
More specifically, by introducing RegenAg as a new concept, the movement is losing the connection to 40 years of extension work and knowledge building throughout the CIGAR system; it is losing the bridge into the UN system that was essential for promoting ConservAg globally.
What are existing ideas and initiatives around the relationship between RegenAg and the UN? Would it make sense to host a high-level panel between RegenAg advocates and ConservAg advocates, and join forces? Do we need a shared use of some wording, to avoid further confusion ?
1st Masters Class Jan 2022
1st Masters Class Jan 2022
Shedding Light on the Philosophical Heart of Organic Agriculture
“A fertile soil transmits forces. Originally, it was the only material on Earth that could hold water. It therefore became the theater where water, earth, and air could interact, where the earth could express itself in the endless variety of organic life.”
William Bryant Logan, “Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth
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