Industrialised agriculture aims for high yields in order to deliver low-cost food to consumers. As such, it is mostly a corporate endeavour, and excludes smaller producers. Moreover, it stands accused of contaminating soil and water with excessive use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides, and creating antimicrobial resistance.
In contrast, regenerative farming takes a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems, explains Alan Rosenberg, owner of Lindros Whole Earth Consultants, which specialises in agroecology.
Where conventional farming usually focuses on monoculture and maximum yield, regenerative agriculture targets the creation of relationships, such as those between plants and animals, and between soil microbes and plant roots.
Conservation agriculture (CA) and regenerative agriculture (RA) are two approaches to sustainable farming. CA is based on three principles: minimum tillage and soil disturbance, biological diversity through crop rotation,
