Knowra Regenerative agriculture Regenerative agriculture Regenerative agriculture is a farming approach that aims to restore soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystem function while producing food and other agricultural goods.
Cover cropping : Growing crops primarily to protect and improve soil rather than to harvest them as the main product. Living cover shields soil between cash crops and feeds soil organisms.
Silvopasture : A land-use system combining trees, forage, and livestock on the same parcel. It applies regenerative principles by integrating grazing animals with tree cover.
Soil health : The capacity of soil to function as a living system that sustains plants, animals, and people. It is a broad outcome that regenerative practices seek to improve.
Conservation agriculture : A farming approach based on minimal soil disturbance, permanent soil cover, and crop diversification. Its principles overlap strongly, while regenerative agriculture often makes broader restoration claims.
Life cycle assessment : A method for estimating the environmental impacts of a product or system across its life cycle. It can reveal whether farm-level gains persist when production and supply chains are counted.
No-till farming : Crop production that avoids or greatly reduces mechanical soil disturbance. Reduced disturbance can preserve soil structure and fungal networks.
Alley cropping : An agroforestry system that grows crops in alleys between rows of trees or shrubs. It combines annual production with woody roots and habitat.
Soil carbon sequestration : The transfer and storage of atmospheric carbon dioxide as carbon in soil. Some regenerative practices aim to increase soil carbon, though results vary by place and time.
Conventional agriculture : Agricultural production using prevailing practices and technologies, which vary across regions and farms. Comparisons with conventional systems help test whether claimed benefits are additional.
Greenhouse gas emissions : Gases released into the atmosphere that trap heat, including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Soil-carbon gains must be assessed alongside emissions from livestock, fertilizers, and land use.
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