The importance of regenerative farming and protecting the environment and reducing carbon was brought into the spotlight at a panel discussion hosted by Nedbank at Nampo on Thursday.
Image: Yogashen Pillay
The importance of regenerative farming, environmental protection and reducing carbon emissions came under the spotlight during a panel discussion hosted by Nedbank at Nampo Harvest Day on Thursday.
Dr Hendrik Smith, a regenerative conservation agriculture researcher at South Africa Asset Research, said regenerative farming aims to bring agricultural practices closer to nature.
“Through natural science observations and experiences we've identified a couple of principles followed by practices that help us to do that,” Smith said.
He stressed that regenerative agriculture is not a new concept, but one that needs to be expanded and accelerated to address environmental challenges.
“Agriculture at its current form produces carbon. Where is the carbon going? It's going into the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect. In fact, most of the carbon in the atmosphere comes from over 10,000 years of agriculture.”
Smith said farmers have both an opportunity and a responsibility to restore carbon back into the soil as part of climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.
“The second principle is to cover your soil with organic residues or cover crops simply to protect the soil against negative or extreme climate events, temperatures, rainfall events,” he said.
Smith explained that another core principle of regenerative farming is keeping the soil covered with organic residues or cover crops to shield it from extreme weather conditions.
“We want the water in the soil. If there's no cover on the soil, it runs off, creates erosion and evaporates into the soil. So the cover, we don't actually want to see the soil. We want to have it 100% covered. That's why we need to manage it properly,” he said.
“There's more life in a spoonful of soil than there is in human life on Earth. I like to look at the microbes. And in retail and agriculture, those are so important because that is where your nutrient cycling takes place. So if you have a healthy microbiome in your soils you have won the battle.”
Smith also highlighted the importance of soil microbiology in maintaining healthy agricultural systems.
“There's something that we're continuously thinking about is how to manipulate these microorganisms to speed up this process towards a soil that is functional, not just healthy.”
Professor Karen Jacobs, a microbiologist and soil health specialist at Stellenbosch University, said farmers play a central role in making regenerative agriculture work across different farming environments.
“There are so many different contexts from small to commercial, from east to west, from north to south; there are so many different contexts, but the principles are applicable universally, and it is on the farmer—whether it's a commercial or smaller farmer—to make those principles applicable and adaptable in their context.”
Jacobs added that it is easier in clay loamy soils with high rainfall than dry hot conditions with deep sandy soils.
“In some cases, it's very difficult due to the sandy soil conditions, for example. But then you can make the best of that. For smallholders, the principles are very applicable. In terms of equipment, there's equipment, natural planters for all the different shapes and sizes.”
Stephan Nel, managing director of Case IH Agriculture Equipment company, aid precision and efficiency in farming technology are becoming increasingly important in regenerative agriculture.
“A lot of requests are coming in on going beyond the traditional way that we would configure a machine, bring it in; now we need to start looking at different ways, and it's not widely adopted yet.”
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