What Is Regenerative Agriculture? A Review of Scholar and Practitioner Definitions Based on Processes and Outcomes

Abstract

Regenerative agriculture is an alternative means of producing food that, its advocates claim, may have lower-or even net positive-environmental and/or social impacts. Regenerative agriculture has recently received significant attention from producers, retailers, researchers, and consumers, as well as politicians and the mainstream media. Despite widespread interest in regenerative agriculture, no legal or regulatory definition of the term "regenerative agriculture" exists nor has a widely accepted definition emerged in common usage. This paper answers the research question: How have different scholars and practitioners defined regenerative agriculture? We reviewed 229 journal articles and 25 practitioner websites to characterize the term "regenerative agriculture." Our review revealed that there were many definitions and descriptions of regenerative agriculture in usage. These were variously based on processes (e.g., use of cover crops, the integration of livestock, and reducing or eliminating tillage), outcomes (e.g., to improve soil health, to sequester carbon, and to increase biodiversity), or combinations of the two. Process-based definitions may imply that advocates or users of such definitions are open-minded about the possible outcomes of these processes. Similarly, outcome-based definitions may imply that users of such definitions are open-minded about the processes that may lead to those outcomes. We discuss the implications of these different forms of definition for policy, including for certification programs and for payments for carbon sequestration programs. More generally, wide variance in the definitions used may lead to uncertainty about what different actors mean when they talk about regenerative agriculture. We suggest that it may be helpful for individual users of the term "regenerative agriculture" to define it comprehensively for their own purpose and context.

Mineral-Ecological Cropping Systems—A New Approach to Improve Ecosystem Services by Farming without Chemical Synthetic Plant Protection

“…The main goals of "Regenerative Agriculture" are to build up humus, improve soil health, increase biodiversity, and promote plant-soil interactions. Key farming practices include eliminating or minimizing tillage, permanent greening, and organic fertilization [40]. "Precision Agriculture" seeks to minimize agricultural inputs by applying plant-and site-specific crop management using modern agricultural technologies, including digitization [41].…”

Transforming landscapes and mindscapes through regenerative agriculture

“…As such, rather than being prescriptive about using particular practices or processes, regenerative agriculture is generally outcomes focussed (Grelet et al 2021 ). Some process-based definitions also exist (Newton et al 2020 ); which are more inflexible with what constitutes ‘regenerative.’ These conflicting definitions demonstrate the lack of theoretical depth and consistency in regenerative agriculture.…”

Oh my darling clementine: heterogeneous preferences for sustainable citrus fruits

“…by imitating natural processes, creating beneficial biological interactions and synergies among the components of the agroecosystems, and valorizing ecological processes and ecosystem services' (Migliorini and Wezel, 2017, p.63). On the other hand, regenerative agriculture suggests the adoption of certain practices (e.g., use of cover crops, the integration of livestock and reducing or eliminating tillage), to achieve certain outcomes (e.g., to improve soil health, to sequester carbon and to increase biodiversity) (Newton et al, 2020). At present and considering market adoption as the benchmark, the most successful implementation of ecological principles in agriculture is organic farming.…”