Regenerative agriculture: a bright future towards sustainable living

The agriculture industry is one of the largest emitters of CO2, the greenhouse gas which is mostly responsible for the current climate change. Agriculture, along with forestry and other land uses, accounts for just under a quarter of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. But it also plays a critical role in helping us end the crisis and establish a secure, sustainable, and viable future free of carbon pollution. One in which we can feed the growing global population with fresh, organic, and healthy food grown in a healthy soil ecosystem. To make these things work, regenerative agriculture is a win-win. In a nutshell, regenerative agriculture is a set of farming principles and practices that aim to restore and improve the farm's entire ecosystem by emphasising soil health while also paying attention to water management, fertiliser use, and other factors.

 Regenerative agriculture practices boost soil biodiversity and organic compounds, making soils more resilient to climate change effects such as flooding and drought. Strong yields and nutrient-dense crops are the results of healthy soil. It also reduces runoff and erosion, resulting in better water quality both on and off the farm. Regenerative agriculture practices also aid in the fight against climate change by removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in the ground can participate actively in trying to mitigate an existential threat to their livelihood strategies.

Regenerative agriculture as a boon to farming

When plants carry out photosynthesis, they take carbon dioxide from the air and convert it to carbon that the plant uses to thrive on leaves, stems, and roots, using the sun's energy, water, and nutrients from the soil. The extra carbon produced by this process is shipped down the plant and stored in the soil layers, effectively sequestering it. Soil organic carbon is the carbon in the soil that is fed by microbes and fungi, which in turn offer nutrients to the plant. The primary element of soil organic matter(defined as weight loss of dry matter when combustion. All nutrients were present in dry matter, whereas all nutrients except ash were present in organic matter) is soil organic carbon, which gives the soil more structure and allows it to store more water.

Carbon can be stored in soils for thousands of years, or it can be rapidly released into the atmosphere through farm practices such as ploughing and tillage, which use mechanical agitation methods like digging, stirring, and overturning to prepare the soil for planting. Regenerative agriculture is thus a major boon for farmers: it's a strategy that contributes to higher, more tenacious crops grown using sustainable methods while also combating a crisis that threatens all agriculture.

Trichoderma and agriculture

Trichoderma is a fungus genus with over 100 species that belong to the Hypocreaceae family. Trichoderma colonises the root surface or cortex and thrives in environments with plenty of healthy roots. Trichoderma is beneficial because it has been shown to reduce fertiliser dose, pesticide allotment in the crop field, and yield. However, because hyper concentration causes food toxicity, it is necessary to use the recommended dosage.

Pests, infestation, and chemical contaminants in agriculture are now a serious threat to productivity and the long-term sustainability of agriculture. The microorganisms studied had a significant impact on soil health and crop yield. However, major constraints such as pests, diseases, and insects, as well as their overuse, are influencing productivity and soil health. It has been reported that using Trichoderma sp. in the crop field has a significant impact on yield and soil microfloral population maintenance. It also inhibits pathogenic microorganism activity through enzymatic activities.

Trichoderma is a beneficial microbe that impacts soil health and crop efficiency in the agro-ecosystem. Its antimicrobial property against plant pathogenic microorganisms makes it more suitable for regenerative agricultural use. However, it serves as a biofertilizer, plant growth promoter, bioremediator, and increases both biological and economic crop yield. As a result, the use of Trichoderma should be encouraged because it has the potential to promote regenerative agriculture by minimising the use of detrimental chemicals in agriculture.

Increased adoption of regenerative agriculture has the potential to support 5 million full-time equivalents (FTE) jobs by 2040, with annual gross value addition of over USD 70 billion. Modelling a 13% increase in yields as a result of a regenerative agriculture scenario in 2040 can be equivalent to 62 million additional dry matter tonnes of crop production per year, with Increases in value-added and employment being significant.