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Policymakers, donors, and investors are seeing the wisdom of investing in soil restoration, agroecology, agroforestry, and biodiversity, among other regenerative actions. Local markets are climate resilient. Local manufacturing of bio-inputs including fertilizers, bio- pesticides, and inoculants is booming.
It also necessitates petroleum-based pesticides, from fungicides to herbicides, to ward off weeds and stop sprouting. Another 38 percent comes from retail consumption and waste; and the rest is from industrial inputs (like pesticides and fertilizer) and agriculture production. Irrigation and farm equipment also depend on fossil fuels.
Sustainable Farming Increases Income Many family farmers struggle to afford inputs such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides that they have been taught to use, even though the money spend on these takes away from their ability to meet basic needs. The surplus food can be sold at local markets, turning farms into reliable sources of income.
Some of these, such as food, fiber, and energy, are marketed, and the market compensates farmers. However, other ecosystem services remain out of the market as there are no buyers. India has an opportunity to value regenerative farming and invest in agroecological-based regenerative farming to redesign its agriculture.
A Bigger Conversation’s Director, Pat Thomas, shares insights from the ‘Agroecological Intelligence’ project, which spoke with agroecological farmers and growers to establish a criteria for adopting new technologies. But not everyone buys in to this narrative.
Is Agroecology Being Coopted by Big Ag? Other states and the federal government sometimes follow, and because of the state’s market size, food companies typically choose to change their products and processes for the entire nation. Read More: The IPPC’s Latest Climate Report Is a Final Alarm for Food Systems, Too Did the First U.N.
On a summer day in downtown Salinas, California, a group of farmers, biotechnology start-ups and pesticide corporations gathered to talk about the benefits of biology. While the realm of pesticides and fertilizers has been dominated by chemistry for the past eight decades, it seems like biology may soon have its day.
This means increased crop yields and reduced inputs like fertilizers and pesticides. Cost savings : Regenerative farming often reduces the need for expensive inputs like synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Healthy soil retains moisture better, has improved nutrient availability, and is more resistant to erosion.
Those corporations spray pesticides that often drifts over people and sensitive environmental areas. What they do need are huge amounts of water, huge amounts of pesticides to artificially correct the unnatural monoculture, and huge amounts of fertilizers because industrial agriculture practices deplete nutrients from the soil.
Comic: Adapting Corn for Tortillas—and New Markets—in the Pacific Northwest In this illustrated report, we explore how the Organic Seed Alliance is working with local farmers, scientists, and chefs to adapt crops to new environments—and the changing climate.
More than just an explicit set of production practices, this way of farming is known as “agroecology”, and refers to working with, rather than against, nature. Building markets, and key infrastructure, for cover crops such as oats and peas will also help facilitate their wider adoption.
Typically, this soya comes from Latin A merica , a crop that contributes to deforestation and pesticide use in biologically important areas, such as the Amazon and Cerrado. This marks an increase of more than 30% in the past decade as chicken has been marketed as a more compassionate, healthy and ecological alternative to red meat.
Suppressing pests and disease Much of pest management in conventional systems relies on synthetic pesticides, often alongside genetically modifying a single variety for resistance to sprays, in the case of herbicides. Carefully planned crop rotations often increase the yield of the primary crop.
Farmers need to have annual inspections to demonstrate delivery against those standards, ranging from controlled pesticide usage to crop rotations and natural fertiliser usage. For products to be certified as organic, they must meet a series of standards that are set and audited by certification bodies (CBs).
It’s not economic incentives – most of them still sell their produce into commodity markets, which are not yet set up to offer farmers a price advantage for producing their food using more sustainable methods. Nor is it driven by policy – unlike in the UK, farmers in the US do not receive subsidy support to convert to regenerative systems.
Mexico’s challenge has also bolstered its standing as hemispheric leader of an agroecology movement gaining momentum across the global south. “If Washington’s response reflects the corporate capture of the US regulatory system,” said Fernando Bejarano, director of the Action Network on Pesticides and their Alternatives in Mexico.
Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) , Africa AFSA is a coalition of civil society organizations advocating for food sovereignty and agroecology across the continent. Made up of more than 7,700 members, the organization advocates for better policies, promotes climate-smart agriculture, and supports market access for their members.
Such changes reduced the overall resilience of the agroecological system. This would further enable farmers to drastically cut pesticide use and increase habitat availability for a wide range of species. In the 1930’s, as the market shifted toward hybrid varieties with desirable traits, companies developed exclusive cultivars.
This is about allowing a technology to be developed and potentially marketed.” Many of these points echo the “Great Reset” conspiracy theories promoted by far-right political and media figures dating back to the pandemic, Nusa Urbancic, CEO of the Changing Markets Foundation, an advocacy group favoring sustainable markets, tells Sentient.
.” Broadly speaking, regenerative agriculture improves soil health and carbon sequestration through diverse crop rotations, animal grazing, limited tillage, and reduced (or eliminated) external inputs like fertilizer and pesticides. You should back away from this definition and call it agroecological or holistic.
As always, there was much to explore at the Conference with an array of workshops and deep dive sessions arguably dominating the more academic talks on topics like Trauma and the Land and The Interbeing of Agroecology not to dismiss those deeper discussions which are important to have, but perhaps practice is having a moment?
The USDA spent the most money—6 percent of its total purchases, or $270 million—on food from Cargill, which is the country’s largest private company and has long been accused of creating unfair markets for farmers and perpetuating deforestation in South America. Why Aren’t Federal Agencies Enforcing Pesticide Rules That Protect Farmworkers?
Buy-protect-sell is a measure that Young Farmers advocated for in the 2018 Farm Bill, alongside our partners, that enables land trusts to utilize ACEP funds to move quickly in getting priority farmland off the open market and facilitate a sale to a farmer or rancher. The Farmland Access Act (S.2507)
In the weeks just before the election, the voices of the Make America Healthy Again Trump backers, fueled by millions in dark money, were telling us that Trump will take on the pesticide industry and toxics in food, will tackle junk food, and much more. This cheap produce will flood the markets and put American farmers out of business.
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