A vast experiment has challenged the way we've been farming for a century
Agriculture yes, but regenerative. European food security does not come from chemical-intensive agricultural practices. On the contrary. Taking care of the soil and ecosystems leads to greater productivity and biodiversity compared to conventional agriculture. This is supported by a recent report by the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture (Eara), which collected the results of a multi-year pilot program conducted by farmers together with experts and institutions from different sectors in 14 European countries, involving 78 companies for a total of 7 thousand hectares.
Ultimately, according to the data, in the 2021-2023 study period, regenerative farmers achieved higher overall productivity, recording an average 32 percent higher RFP – an index that measures the overall productivity of a land – with a range of 14 percent to 52 percent.
Regenerative agriculture is a technique similar to permaculture that combines ancient knowledge (such as crop rotation and rotation) with modern techniques , mimicking natural processes to regenerate soil exploited by intensive agricultural practices and obtain healthy, quality products.
In regenerative agriculture , mechanical interventions are also limited and, instead of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, biological preparations are used to fertilize and nourish the soil; while to defend plants from parasites, preparations and techniques typical of integrated biological control are used.
At the same time, regenerative agriculture allows to reduce soil erosion and remineralize it , to guarantee the purity of water in aquifers or reduce the use of pesticides. And the results seem to prove her right.
The RFP (Regenerating Full Productivity) index we referred to earlier is a multidimensional indicator that measures the various results of soil management by cross-referencing data collected in the field, information provided directly by farmers and satellite images , with comparisons at local, national and European level.
Based on this index, regenerative agriculture has a clear agroecological advantage , with better soil health than nearby fields: a photosynthesis increase of more than 24 percent, a soil cover of more than 23 percent, and a plant diversity of more than 17 percent between 2019 and 2024. All this with substantially stable yields (only 2 percent lower) and with an average reduction of 61 percent in synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and 76 percent in pesticides per hectare.
Furthermore, while the average EU farm imports more than 30 percent of its livestock feed from markets outside Europe, regenerative farmers, using only feed produced in their own bioregion, have achieved the same results, while also implementing regional food sovereignty.
Finally, the adoption of 50 percent of forms of regenerative agriculture , the report explains, could more than offset the current agricultural emissions of the European Union. If we switched entirely to the regenerative model, however, emissions from the European agricultural sector would decrease by 300% .
If the results of the study are confirmed, regenerative agriculture will therefore prove to be an excellent ally for combining the growing need for food (according to an analysis published in 2021 in the journal Nature Food , which examined the results of 57 studies published between 2000 and 2018 , in the period between 2010 and 2050 the demand for food will likely increase between 35% and 56%) with the need to reduce the geoclimatic impact of agricultural practices (according to the 2019 IPCC Special Report “Climate Change and Land”, “agriculture, forestry and other types of land use account for 23% of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities”), ensuring a more peaceful future for our planet.
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