Regenerative Agriculture: Restoring Ecosystems¢ Resilience and Productivity: A Review

Regenerative agriculture developed as a response to conventional farming’s ecological degradation, emerging from organic farming, permaculture and holistic management principles. It reframes farms as integrated ecosystems rather than mere production units. Unlike conventional agriculture’s yield-focused approach through external inputs, regenerative agriculture builds biological capital and ecosystem services to naturally support productivity, fundamentally shifting from extraction to regeneration. Key practices include minimal soil disturbance (no-till/reduced tillage), cover cropping, diverse crop rotations, managed livestock integration, compost application, reduced synthetic inputs and agroforestry systems. Implementation emphasizes context-specific design rather than prescriptive approaches. Monitoring focuses on soil health indicators (organic matter, biological activity, aggregate stability, water infiltration) and ecosystem metrics like biodiversity and carbon sequestration. Research shows promising outcomes: Soil organic carbon increases of 0.5-2% over 3-5 years, water infiltration rates 2-10 times higher than conventional systems, 30-50% increases in soil microbial diversity and 60-80% greater beneficial insect abundance. Carbon sequestration ranges from 0.5 to 3 tons per hectare annually. Economically, regenerative farms demonstrate 20-40% lower input costs with comparable or improved long-term profitability despite potential yield decreases during transition periods. Long-term studies confirm that regenerative systems become increasingly productive and stable over time.