Regenerative Agriculture

Abstract

The food system is our last coal-fired power station, our last diesel engine. This book is a trans-disciplinary treatment of what needs to be done to make it not only sustainable but also to regenerate soil and water resources, habitat, economy and society. The book brings back classical principles of agronomy and integrates economic, agro-ecological and social perspectives, drawing on a wealth of expertise on the political economy of the food system, Conservation Agriculture, and long-term field experiments.

Regenerative agriculture builds on known knowns – like crop rotation, water and nutrient requirements, soil and water conservation, farm-gate prices, international trade and supply chains. It grapples withknown unknowns – like weed, pest and disease control without agrochemicals, cover crops for profit as well as protection, mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis, resilience and tipping points in ecosystems, farming systems and societies, and how we can pay for imperative changes. Lastly, it acknowledges unknown unknowns – the things we are oblivious to but which we really must know – like how to liberate the ghettos of the mind inhabited by farmers, agronomists, politicians and societies.