Here is the 40-year old World
Resources Institute (WRI) talking down Regenerative Agriculture, saying
“Regenerative Agriculture: Good For Soil Health, But Limited Potential To
Mitigate Climate Change” via Janet
Ranganathan, Richard Waite, Tim Searchinger & Jessica Zionts. The
WRI is the 12th website I have consulted today, Wednesday, 31 Aug 2022,
and I abruptly stopped when I read it because it’s eye-popping – here is an
institute telling me that RA has “limited potential” for arresting Climate
Change!
Sorry,
but the World Resources Institute does not know enough about Regenerative
Agriculture. At least, the 3 above-mentioned WRI authors don’t!
The WRI authors say pertinently:
Regenerative
agriculture has become the darling of many policymakers, food companies and
farmers. Advocates claim a triple win: climate change mitigation, increased
profit for farmers and greater resilience to a changing climate. Our view is
that the practices grouped as regenerative agriculture can improve soil health
and yield some valuable environmental benefits, but are unlikely to achieve large-scale
emissions reductions.
The WRI authors do mention as regenerative practices in
agriculture the following: (1) no-till agriculture, (2) cover cropping, (3) crop
rotation, and (4) rotating crops with livestock grazing. My immediate response
is: “Why cannot all those 4 practices be applied on a national scale if the
government dictates it?”
The WRI editor does explain that the article “focuses on
practices aimed primarily at boosting soil carbon on working agricultural
lands.” Yes I know, but “boosting soil carbon” is not all there is to
Regenerative Agriculture!
I say
the WRI authors did not do enough Google search, and/or did not ask enough
questions and seek answers about the whys and wherefores of Climate Change.
Their
article has 1,634 words in the text; the title has an ominous “13” as number of
words. Now: “Why did the WRI authors fail to discuss about the
greenhouse gases (GHGs) that chemical fertilizers produce when they are used?” Asking
for a friend!
ANN of Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC) says, “At its core, regenerative
agriculture is farming and ranching in harmony with nature” (Author Not Named,
29 Nov 2021, “Regenerative Agriculture 101,” NRDC, nrdc.org).
“In harmony with nature” – and chemical agriculture is not in harmony
with nature by any definition!
(Image sources: “Regenerative Agriculture,” UVM Blogs, blog.uvm.edu;
“Living Soil,” kobo.com)
Organic farming is regenerative. Now, my kind of
Regenerative Agriculture is not mentioned by any of the sources I googled. I
call it “Rotavator Organic WEALTh (Weeds-Enriched Automatic Layer of Trash Triggering
Terrestrial Health).” I have written 10 times about it, first in 27 April 2022:
“Can You Grow Sugarcane Solely By Organic Fertilizer? CaneCo In The Antilles
Archipelago Shows The World How!” (towardsaneweden.blogspot.com).
And
yes, to celebrate my birth month, my blog Towards A New Eden has a new slogan: “via Regenerative
Agriculture.” If they can’t fight you, they’ll have to join you!@517
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