Regenerative Agriculture for Climate Change Mitigation and Food Security

Nowadays, climate change poses a significant challenge, resulting in notable shifts in agricultural production and posing obstacles to achieving food security. Not only does climate change diminish crop yields, but it also reduces the nutritional quality of produce. Extreme events such as droughts impact food and nutrient consumption and affect farmers. Climate change is predominantly propelled by global warming, chiefly driven by the accumulation of GHG, particularly CO2. The concentration of GHG steadily increases over time. While agriculture plays a substantial role in contributing to climate change, it also has the potential to mitigate it by acting as a sink for substantial amounts of carbon. Agriculture, along with other alterations in land use, collectively accounts for about 23% of net anthropogenic global GHG emissions. Managing the CO2 concentration at this level poses a considerable challenge. While the production of CO2 cannot be entirely halted, it can be controlled, or an alternative option is capturing atmospheric carbon through carbon sequestration in soil. Various approaches have been developed to address this issue, with regenerative agriculture being one of the most recent ones. Regenerative agriculture is a holistic land management practice aimed at improving soil health, primarily through methods that enhance soil organic matter. Numerous sustainable practices can be employed to regenerate agricultural ecosystems, including agroforestry, rotational grazing, minimum tillage, zero tillage, conservation agriculture, crop residue management, biochar application, crop diversification, cover cropping, green manuring, integrated nutrient management, precision agriculture, improved technology (such as SRI, DSR, and FIRB), natural farming, mulching, and enhanced water management. Although adoption challenges may arise, proper solutions can be implemented to ensure the smooth implementation of these practices.