Regenerative Agriculture: What’s Missing? What Do We Still Need to Know?

351 Pages·2021·8.062 MB·English

by  David Dent

David Dent
Boris Boincean   Editors
Regenerative
Agriculture
What's Missing? What Do We Still
Need to Know?
Regenerative Agriculture
·
David Dent Boris Boincean
Editors
Regenerative Agriculture
What’s Missing? What Do We Still Need
to Know?
Editors
DavidDent BorisBoincean
ChestnutTreeFarm,ForncettEnd SelectiaResearchInstituteofFieldCrops,
Norfolk,UK AlecuRussoBa˘l¸tiStateUniversity
Ba˘l¸ti,Moldova
ISBN978-3-030-72223-4 ISBN978-3-030-72224-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72224-1
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2021
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof
thematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuseofillustrations,recitation,
broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionorinformation
storageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilarmethodology
nowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication
doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant
protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook
arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor
theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany
errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional
claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Foreword: The Future of the Land, The Future
of Farming
More than 25 years ago, I happened to be one to the editors of a large volume of
papers presented at a conference which we gave the same title as the book: The
FutureoftheLand.DavidDentwasoneofthecontributors.Thefocuswasonland
useplanningbutmanyoftheissuesraisedtherearestillrelevanttoday.Figureson
land use are sometimes inaccurate and not detailed enough, environmental effects
are difficult to measure over time and cannot be extrapolated easily, policies and
governanceareunclear,notwithstandingtheneedtouniteallactorsanddisciplines.
TheconferencetookplaceatWageningenUniversityandResearch,thenasnowan
internationalcentreforeducationandresearchwithalongtraditioninsoilandcrop
science, as well as animal production, forestry, biodiversity and nutrition. When
I look at Wageningen now, it strikes me how much we have grown in terms of
interdisciplinarityandfundamentalresearch,andinternationalcollaboration.
Itakethelibertytoindulgeinthismemoryofanot-too-distantpasttodemonstrate
boththecontinuityandthechangeswithrespecttoapastthatisonlyageneration
away.Thebookinyourhandsposesmanyofthequestionsthatoccupiedusthen.This
isnotbecausesciencehasnotmadeanyprogressinthelastdecades.Onthecontrary,
theprogressinourunderstandinghasbeenimmense,especiallywhenitcomestothe
toolsatourdisposalsuchasbigdata,modellingandartificialintelligence.However,
the similarity of today’s and yesterday’s questions emphasizes how tenacious and
complex are the issues around land and its use. Indeed, comparing the two books
shows how this new volume testifies to the growing depth of our understanding:
interdisciplinarityandthecouplingoffundamentalandpracticalresearcharefound
in nearly every contribution. Above all, within the broad geographical spread, the
powerfulcontributionoftheEastandSouthofEuropeisabonus.
Where do we stand, what is missing, what else do we need to know, the key
sections in the book, are universal questions for all fields of science but they take
onaspecialmeaninghere.Thisisafieldthatissooftenforgotten.Foodmayhave
becomeafashionablepreoccupationofthemiddleclasseseverywhere:veryrarely
isthisinterestextendedtothelandandthelandscapeswherethisfoodisgrown.And
ifitis,then,aswithfood,misunderstandingsabound.No,organicagricultureisnot
alwaysthesolutiontoimprovingsoilqualitybut,then,norisconventionalagriculture.
v
vi Foreword:TheFutureoftheLand,TheFutureofFarming
Large scale agriculture is not always bad, nor is small scale always good. No, not
all natural vegetation should be considered untouchable, nor are all species to be
protected. Agriculture always means disturbing natural ecosystems and exploiting
preciousorganicmatterandnutrients.Thereisnofreelunchanditisimportantto
communicatetheeffectsandnuancesofhumaninterventionstothepublicatlarge.
Thereismuchtolikeinthisbookand,occasionally,todisagreewith.Butthen,
scientific understanding has always progressed through debate and the thorough
reviewoffactsandopinions.Idonotconcurwiththoseauthorswhobelieveinterna-
tionaltradehascausedfoodshortagesingeneral.Althoughtherearecertainlymany
unwantedconsequencesofinternationaltrade,suchasworkers’wagesandfactory
safetyandenvironmentalcosts,thereisplentyofevidencethattradehasledtolower
food prices, higher food safety standards, and fewer severe supply fluctuations. In
fact, the last serious price fluctuations, in 2008–2010 (too early to judge what the
fall-out of the COVID-19 crisis will bring) were mostly due to export restrictions
andprotectionismbysomeofthebigcerealproducers.Agricultureandfoodforthe
world are best carried out in those areas where the conditions are optimal from a
naturalandeconomicpointofview.Whatthatmeans,particularlyintermsofsoils
andland,isoneofthethemesofthisbook.
Onbiodiversityandthenaturalenvironment,too,itisimportanttoexaminethe
evidence.Themostdestructiveformofagriculture,intermsoflossoftopsoil,organic
matter and vegetation is unfertilised annual cropping in the tropics. This is still a
sizeableproportionofthecultivatedarea.Itisundeniablethatbigfarming,especially
in the case of feckless use of chemicals, has had devastating effects on water, soil
biodiversity,andair.However,itshouldnotbeforgottenthatyieldincreases,i.e.the
efficiency of land, water and input use, have freed up enormous areas of land that
canbededicatedtotheconservationofnature.
Whathaschangedradicallyinrecentdecadesistheemergenceofnewtechnolo-
giessuchasdrones,CRISPR-Cas9geneediting,artificialintelligenceandbigdata.
Whattheybring,collectively,isagreatercontroloftheenvironmentandtheplantor
theanimal.Tobeprecise,theyallowprecisionfarmingandprecisionbreeding,even
totheextentofbringingback,oneday,thepossibilityofmodernmixedfarmingand
mixedcropping;andthebetterweareabletomonitortheeffectsofouractions,the
betterwecancontrolanynegativesideeffects.Wearenowabletoapplywhatwe
usedtodreamabout:tofertilizetherootzoneofasingleplantattherightmoment
intime,toclosethecyclesofnutrientsandenergyand,perhaps,eventofixenough
carbontocounterbalancetheemissionsofgreenhousegases.
Last but not least, the key question that should worry us is: Who will be the
farmersofthefuture?Clearly,youngpeopleeverywhereaspiretosomethingother
than working the land for little money and little social status. The future must
entail investments in mechanisation, increasing labour productivity, and fostering
entrepreneurship.And,ultimately,thequestionis:Willthefarmsofthefuturestill
belandbased?Myshortanswer,andsurelythesubjectforatantalisingnewbook:
bluefarmingofalgaeandotherspecies,plantproteinsandverticalgreenhousesin
urbanenvironmentswillallhavetheirplacebut,intheend,whenitcomestocarbo-
hydratesandmuchofourprotein,thelandwillremainthefoundationforourfuture.
Foreword:TheFutureoftheLand,TheFutureofFarming vii
Asthisrichvolumeshows,thereisnofutureformankindwithoutcarefortheland
(evenonMars,wewillneedtoconstructsomeequivalentofasoil).IthinkthatDavid
andBorisandtheirauthorshavedonearemarkablejobtoshowfarming,soils,land
andnatureinalltheirdiversityandsimilarity.
Amsterdam/Wageningen,TheNetherlands LouiseO.Fresco
April2020
Introduction
The first lesson learnt by men and women in the field of rural development after
theSecondWorldWarwasthatit’snotallthesameoutthere.Welearnedthehard
way. Reliable knowledge of the land is indispensible. The second lesson, learned
somethirtyyearslater,wasthatitisnotenough.Developmentturnedouttobenot
sosimpleaswehadthought:someofthegoalsnowseemillusory,theconstraints
more intractable, the contribution of science disappointing in the absence of ways
andmeansofusingit(Young2007).
ThemantraoftheBrundtlandReport—sustainabledevelopment that‘meetsthe
needsofthepresentwithoutcompromisingtheabilityoffuturegenerationstomeet
theirownneeds’wasanattempttosquarethecircleofpoverty,landdegradationand
under-development.ItblossomedalongsidetheGreenRevolutionandtheexpansion
oftradeafterthefalloftheBerlinWallin1989:Malthuswasbanishedbytriplingthe
yieldsofthemainfoodcrops,andspendingpowercametofar-flungpartsoftheworld.
The Green Revolution came with high-yielding crop varieties, cheap power and
fertilizers,potentpesticides,andexpansionofirrigation.Theseindustrialinputsare
nolongercheapandthesystemexpendsmoreenergythanitproduces.Unknowingly,
industrialisedagricultureisflaringoffsoilorganicmatter—theenergysupplyoflife
inthesoilthatbreaksdownwastesandtoxins,regeneratesplantnutrients,combats
pestsanddiseases,andmaintainstheporespacethatallowsinfiltrationofrainfall,
watersupplytoplants,anddrainagetostreamsandgroundwater.Andmineralisation
ofsoilorganicmatterisamajorsourceofthegreenhousegases.Thingscannotgo
onlikethis;sustainabilitydemandsthatagricultureobservesHippocrates’dictum:
Atleast,donoharm.
For the time being, we are growing more than enough food. It is unequally
distributed but international trade means that shortages are not an issue of supply
but an issue of inaccessibility—from combinations of poverty, war, displacement
of peoples, and bad governance. But markets offer no protection to the weak, nor
to resources that have no market value like air, water and biodiversity—so envi-
ronmentaltrendscontinuetodeterioratealarmingly(UNEP2007,FAO2018,IPCC
2019). If water quality had a price tag, then no chemical waste would be dumped
inrivers,nofertilizerswouldleachtostreams,groundwaterandthedeadzonesof
ix
x Introduction
shallowseas.Iftheairhadapriceonitshead,factorychimneys,powerstationsand
exhaust pipes would pump out a no poison. If emission of greenhouse gases was
costed,weshouldbewellonthepathtobringitintolinewiththesinkcapacityof
plantsandsoils.Andwhatisthepriceofbiodiversity?
Our title Regenerative Agriculture does not refer to any particular alternative
farming system. We simply mean farming that is both productive and sustainable;
farmingthatdoesnoharmbut,morethanthat,farmingthatrebuildssoils,landscapes
and communities. It is within reach. This symposium demonstrates that many of
theideasweneedarealreadyoutthere;farmersandresearcherswillalwayscome
up with more good ideas but we need to bring them together and different times
andplacesneeddifferentcombinations.Butwhereasgovernmentsandbigbusiness
can act effectively because they can invest and bear the risks but it is harder for
smallholderswhobarelykeeptheirheadsabovewater—andfewwaysoffarmingare
asdestructiveassmall-scalecultivationofannualcropsinthetropics.Moreover,the
existenceofsustainablepracticesdoesn’tbanishhumanerror,ignorance,corruption,
short-sightedpolicies,andunscrupulousprofiteering.
Atanearlierforkintheroad,JohnF.Kennedy’sCommencementAddressatthe
AmericanUniversity,(1963)helpedrescuetheworldfromapathofself-destruction.
He argued that we can translate the will for peace into achievable goals and, so,
progressstep-by-step.Withinafewweeks,thelimitedtestbantreatywasnegotiated
and the course of history changed. Louise Fresco (2016) reminds us that, in the
sameway,wecantranslatethewillforsustainabilityintoachievablestepstowards
sustainability,forinstance:
(cid:129)
Makeproductionprocessesmoreefficientbyusinglessrawmaterialsandenergy
perunitofproduction,e.g.usinglessfertilizerbybetterplacementandtiming
(cid:129)
Find alternatives to non-renewable inputs like fossil fuels and their derivatives,
e.g.substitutebiologicalnitrogenandbiologicalpestcontrolsforchemicals
(cid:129)
Re-userawmaterials—closethecyclessothatoutputsbecomeinputs:e.g.crop
residuesbecomemulchorstockfeed,thenmanureorbio-fuels,thenasourceof
soilorganicmatter
(cid:129)
Zerotillage
(cid:129)
Perennialgrainsandlegumestoreplaceannuals
(cid:129)
Land use planning: plants and products for places, produce where there is a
competitive advantage, at the same time avoid unnecessary transport. So trop-
ical fruits are best grown in the tropics, perennial vegetation to capture carbon
in places where it is always warm and wet, and the steeper the slope, the more
completethegroundcover.
These were amongst the topics of the symposium in Ba˘l¸ti on 30 November/1
December2019underthebannerofFarmingForever.Wehavearrangedtheproceed-
ingsinfourparts.PartI,WhereWeStand,scanssomeoverarchingissuesofpolitics
and economics. Farmers find themselves between the tyranny of farm gate prices,
highlightedbyTonyAllanandDavidDentinThecostoffood,andthemenaceof
globalheatingunderscoredbyLennartOlssoninPoliticsofsoilsandagriculturein
a warming world. Far from being an actively managed carbon sink, agriculture is
Introduction xi
responsibleforonethirdofglobalemissions,andlanddegradationiscompounded
byexploitationofwaterresourcesandmassextinctionofspecies.Thepriceoffood
is not the cost of food because the damage done along the way is not accounted
for,soproducersaresubsidizingconsumersandexportingcountriesaresubsidizing
importers.Thingscannotgoonlikethis.Iffarmersaretobegoodstewardsofthe
land, the price of food must go up or farmers have to be paid for environmental
services.Eitherway,Societymusttakemoreresponsibilityforitsfood,water,and
environment.
PartII,KnownKnowns,embracesthecommunityofpracticeknownasConserva-
tionAgriculture(CA),bornoutofnecessityandadoptedacross15%ofglobalcrop-
land.Itisnolessproductivethanindustrialagricultureand,atleast,itdoesnoharm.
InCarbonmanagementinConservationAgriculturesystems,DonReicoskyunder-
scores the significance of replacing the dominant agricultural system that depends
onintensiveapplicationofindustrialinputsbyonethatmakesabetterfistofcarbon
management. In Resilient cropping systems in a Mediterranean climate, Johann
Strauss provides a South African perspective facing acute water scarcity, where
cerealmonocroppinglosesthreetonsofsoilpertonofgrainproduced.Heempha-
sisestheneedforsimultaneousadoptionofthethreeprinciplesofCA—zerotillage,
continuousgroundcoverandcroprotation—againstabackdropwhere40%ofhis
farmers follow at least one of these practices but only 14% adhere to all three.
Indeed,drylandseverywherepresenthard-to-handleproblemsillustratedbyLaziza-
khonGafurovaandMukhiddinJulievinCentralAsia;thecatastropheoftheAralSea
isastarkwarningoftheirreversiblechangesbroughtaboutbyrecklessexploitation
oflandandwaterresources.
LucaMontanarella,PanosPanagosandSimoneScarpaconsiderTherelevanceof
BlackSoilsforsustainabledevelopment,thesignificanceofChernozem,Kastanozem
and Phaeozem to global food security as well as in achieving the UN Sustainable
DevelopmentGoals.ThisthemeistakenupbyRattanLalinManagingChernozem
forreducingglobalwarming.Rattanflagstheopportunityforawin:winsituationby
restoringthenaturalfertilityofChernozem,therebyachievingagronomic,economic,
environmental and societal benefits, not least mitigating and adaptating to climate
change.
Butscienceisnotenough.Pragmatic,far-sightedpoliciesareneededtoputscience
towork.InClimatechangepolicyforagricultureoffsetsinAlberta,Canada,Tom
Goddardprovidesapracticalexample.In2002,Albertadecidedtogo-it-alonewith
itsclimatechangepolicyand,in2007,promulgatedanActofParliamentrequiring
big emitters of greenhouse gases to cut their emissions or, either, pay cash-down
or purchase carbon offsets, thereby creating a carbon market. Since then, no-till
farmershavesuppliedthemarketwith14milliontonsofcarbonoffsetsvaluedat143
millioneuro.Publicprocurementcanbeanotherleverforchange.KathrynWilson’s
contribution illustrates the health and social benefits of cooperation between local
producers and consumers, not least the empowerment of rural communities. This
powerhasnotbeenusedovertlytoleveragechangestothefarmingsystem,butthe
poweristhere.