Regenerative agriculture (RA) is increasingly positioned as a systems-based paradigm that integrates soil restoration, climate change mitigation, and sustainable productivity. Conventional agricultural practices, while instrumental in boosting productivity, have often led to soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and increased greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In response, regenerative agriculture has emerged as a holistic framework for restoring soil health, enhancing ecosystem resilience, and mitigating climate change (Lal, 2016). Conceptually, RA builds on the soil-plant-climate nexus, in which soil health serves as the central regulator, linking carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas (GHG) dynamics. As such, RA integrates soil health restoration and emission mitigation as interconnected pathways for sustainable agroecosystems. The present Research Topic advances this paradigm by assembling 27 contributions that collectively move beyond fragmented approaches toward a more integrated understanding of agroecosystem functioning. A conceptual framework illustrating the soil-plant-climate nexus in regenerative agriculture, linking management and biological drivers to soil processes, system outputs, and climateresilient outcomes, is given below.Rather than treating soil health, productivity, and emissions as isolated outcomes, the studies in this collection align with a triangular conceptual model: (i) soil health restoration as the foundation, (ii) management and biological drivers as control levers, and (iii) climate outcomes (GHG mitigation and resilience) as emergent properties. This framework is explicitly operationalized in the integrated monitoring approach proposed by Yeggina et al., which combined geospatial, biophysical, and socio-economic indicators to assess regenerative landscapes. The contributions in this Topic can be grouped into five interrelated themes.The contributions in this Research Topic consistently demonstrated that soil health functioned as the central driver of regenerative agriculture outcomes (Gora et al., 2024). A substantial body of work has shown that restoring soil structure, organic carbon, and biological activity significantly enhances long-term system sustainability and ecosystem functioning. Collectively, these studies confirmed that integrating organic inputs, circular resource use, and precision nutrient strategies substantially improved soil health, productivity, and resilience in regenerative agroecosystems, aligning with broader evidence that regenerative systems enhance soil quality, biodiversity, and sustainability.A defining feature of regenerative agriculture is its emphasis on carbon cycling and circularity. Several articles demonstrate innovative pathways for enhancing carbon sequestration while reducing waste (Lenka et al., 2022). Biochar applications stand out as a multi-functional strategy. Beyond soil systems, Konduri et al. extended their application to aquaculture sediments, showing improvements in microbial activity and reductions in CH₄ and N₂O emissions. This expands the scope of regenerative practices beyond traditional cropping systems. Equally important is the valorization of agricultural residues. Rathore et al. proposed a circular bioeconomy model that converts paddy straw into compressed biogas and fermented organic manure, linking energy production with nutrient recycling. This addresses a critical gap in residue management, where burning of residues remains prevalent. Genotypic contributions to carbon storage are explored by Mutanda et al. who identified maize genotypes with superior carbon sequestration potential alongside high yield, demonstrating the integration of plant breeding into regenerative strategies. Nakmura et al. demonstrated that the solution pH reached approximately 12 for converter slag and approximately 9 for air-cooled and granulated blast furnace slags, and carbon-calcium reactions occurred readily within the alkaline range of pH 8-13, indicating effective atmospheric CO₂ removal conditions via enhanced weathering of steel slag. While carbon sequestration has been widely studied, this Research Topic uniquely integrates circular economy approaches, cross-sector applications (soil-aquaculture), and genetic selection, thereby expanding the regenerative agriculture toolkit.This collection moves beyond emission quantification to identify mechanistic drivers (microbial genes, stoichiometry, hydrothermal regimes) and integrates multiple management dimensions (nutrient, water, residue). Understanding the drivers of GHG emissions is critical for designing mitigation strategies (Lenka et al., 2020). Several contributions provide processlevel insights into how management practices influence emissions. Singh et al. demonstrated that residue management and nutrient stoichiometry significantly control CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O fluxes, with anthropogenic factors accounting for a substantial portion of the variability. This highlights the dominant role of management over inherent soil properties. Nutrient management emerges as a recurring lever. Chaudhary et al. showed that site-specific nutrient management (SSNM) improves fertilizer efficiency while reducing emissions in rice systems. Similarly, Kumar et al. demonstrated that integrating neem-coated urea with compost reduces nitrogen leaching and associated indirect emissions. Water management is another critical control. Yang et al. illustrated how irrigation frequency and amount regulate microbial processes and N₂O emissions in greenhouse systems, while Chi et al. showed that reclaimed water irrigation interacts with fertilizer type to influence nitrogen transformation pathways and emissions. At a broader scale and using a bibliometric analysis, Yang et al. revealed global research trends emphasizing fertilizer-driven emissions and precision agriculture as emerging mitigation strategies. Bertrand et al. found that fertilizer formulation strongly affected emission-related losses, with cumulative nitrogen losses substantially higher under urea-based fertilization (36.7% of applied N) than under ammonium-nitrate-based fertilization (13.1%), indicating that fertilizer choice played a critical role in mitigating greenhouse gas precursor losses under variable climate conditions. Joseph et al. reported that paddy straw biochar application reduced CH₄ emissions by up to 19.36% and N₂O emissions by up to 21.83% in inland saline shrimp ponds while simultaneously enhancing sediment microbial biomass and enzymatic activity, demonstrating its dual role in GHG mitigation and circular utilization of crop residues.A notable contribution of this Research Topic is the emphasis on biological drivers, particularly genotype-environment interactions, which have been underrepresented in regenerative agriculture research. Walthall et al. provided a global synthesis showing that crop genotypes significantly influence GHG emissions under varying nitrogen regimes, suggesting that mitigation strategies can be embedded within crop selection. Complementing this, Fan et al. demonstrated that plant traits such as biomass and root characteristics regulate CH₄ and N₂O emissions in rice systems. Sawargaonkar et al. extended this concept by integrating genotype and management practices, showing that optimized transplanting strategies enhance productivity, water use efficiency, and soil carbon sequestration in pigeon pea systems.While traditional RA research has focused primarily on management practices the collection of studies presented in this Research Topic introduces a genetic dimension, highlighting the potential of breeding and trait selection as tools for climate mitigation.This Research Topic emphasized that regenerative agriculture outcomes emerged from the interaction of biophysical processes, socio-economic drivers, and system-level trade-offs rather than from universally beneficial practices. Keck et al. demonstrated that setting aside cropland in peat soils did not reduce greenhouse gas emissions and could even increase CO₂ fluxes, highlighting the importance of context-specific evaluation. Similarly, life-cycle and carbon footprint analyses in wheat systems showed that while conservation practices such as no-tillage reduced emissions, they required careful optimization of energy inputs and system efficiency to ensure net environmental benefits. Beyond biophysical processes, adoption dynamics played a critical role. Ma and Sun reported that government support significantly enhanced farmers' adoption of conservation tillage, both directly and indirectly through improved internal perceptions, underscoring the importance of policy and behavioral drivers in scaling regenerative practices. Furthermore, Travlos et al. showed that diversification of natural vegetation enhanced ecosystem services, including soil organic matter buildup, pest regulation, and biodiversity support, contributing to resilient agroecosystems. Collectively, these studies highlighted that regenerative agriculture effectiveness depended on integrating ecological processes with socio-economic enablers and recognizing trade-offs across systems, aligning with broader evidence that regenerative systems simultaneously target soil health, biodiversity, and climate resilienceThis Research Topic demonstrated that regenerative agriculture functioned as a systems-based pathway integrating soil health restoration, carbon sequestration, and climate resilience. The 27 studies collectively confirmed that soil health acted as the central regulator linking management practices, biological drivers, and climate outcomes. By combining circular nutrient use, precision management, and genotype-based approaches, the collection advanced a holistic soil-plant-climate framework. Importantly, it showed that RA was not a single practice but a context-dependent, integrative transition, where ecological processes, socioeconomic drivers, and management strategies must be aligned to achieve sustainable and climate-smart agroecosystems.1. Long-term validation: Most studies were short-term; long-term impacts on carbon sequestration and resilience remain uncertain. 2. Scaling approaches: Need for frameworks to upscale plot-level findings to regional and global systems. 3. Multi-GHG optimization: Integrated strategies to simultaneously reduce CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O are still limited. 4. Socio-economic integration: Greater focus is required on adoption barriers, policy incentives, and farmer behavior. 5. Digital agriculture: Integration of AI, remote sensing, and decision-support tools remains underdeveloped. 6. Trade-off analysis: More research is needed to quantify system-level trade-offs across productivity, emissions, and resource use.These directions align with broader evidence emphasizing that regenerative agriculture must integrate soil health, biodiversity, and climate mitigation within adaptive, data-driven systems.
Lenka et al. (Mon,) studied this question.
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