Earlier this month, 134 countries and territories signed an agreement at COP28 pledging to step up effortsIntegrate food systems into emission reduction plans。The report, called the UAE Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Action, aims to:Protecting the lives and livelihoods of farmers in areas most affected by climate change while tackling global greenhouse gas emissions。It is particularly emphasizedThe importance of restoring land, reversing greenhouse gas-emitting agricultural practices and reducing food losses
It seems that these topics have formed such a deep focus at an international conference for the first time, and it also shows the seriousness of the problem. In fact, about 35% of all CO2 emissions from human activities since 1850 have been caused by agriculture and deforestation. The rapid development of "industrial agriculture" for more than half a century has also had a significant impact on the climateCurrently, about one-sixth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions come from the agricultural sector
It is often understood that long-term use of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, fungicides and antibiotics in industrial agriculture can cause harm to soil, farmers, livestock and wildlife, and adversely affect carbon sequestration (carbon sequestration).
For example, glyphosate, the most sold and destructive agrochemical in history, is a biocidal herbicide that reduces carbon in the soil by killing microorganisms that play a key role in the degradation of organic matter.
In traditional rice fields where a lot of fertilizers and pesticides are applied, fish and shrimp cannot survive. Haowei Aquaculture Farm, located in Xubai Village, Caohui Town, Dianjiang County, Chongqing, is a demonstration farm for healthy aquaculture and a demonstration site for "ecological ditch purification system + aquaponics technology". Photo by Yin Chuanhong.
Farming practices also have an impact on carbon sinks。Here's a simple example: when the soil is being cultivated, the organic matter that is accumulating breaks down and produces carbon dioxide emissions. When soil is repeatedly cultivated, soil organisms are exposed to sunlight, causing the soil to dry up, organisms to die, and additional greenhouse gases to be produced. This is because microorganisms naturally release carbon dioxide in the process of degrading organic matter, while repeated farming releases stored carbon into the atmosphere.
Nature's "agriculture" is confronted with a complex ecosystem of plants, insects, microorganisms and soil。Paul Hawken, an eco-conscious entrepreneur in the United States who is committed to advocating environmental sustainability, once lamented that one of the hallmarks of modern agriculture is the separation of agricultural crops and animals. For thousands of years, every farm, pasture or rice field has had horses, cows, sheep, goats, geese, chickens, ducks or fish, which are inextricably linked. Once upon a time, practitioners achieved ecological benefits by adaptive, rapid rotation grazing on pastures. Grazing stimulates plant growth and allows more carbon to enter the soil. The same applies to farmland. In his view, a healthy farm must not only raise livestock, but also provide habitat for birds, pollinators, predatory insects, earthworms and microorganisms and integrate them together.
Such scenes are already being seen on some farms in Spain. A December 9 report in Spain's newspaper El País quoted a farmer as saying he was proud: "This is my land: earthworms, roots, decay, life. Smell and see!Nothing but water was used, nothing that did not grow from the land. ”
What gave this Spanish farmer a taste of sweetness?
Answer:Regenerative agriculture. It is a set of techniques dedicated to not cultivating the land and restoring the vitality of the soil。It utilizes extensive animal husbandry and does not use chemicals or external inputs. All of this makes it possible to reduce costs and increase harvests year by year.
The term "regenerative agriculture" was coined in the early 80s by Robert Rodale, an advocate of organic agriculture in the United States, but its basic idea originated from Indigenous agriculture. In the early 20th century, the widespread application of Native African agricultural knowledge to white plantations in the southern United States caught the attention of a college professor, George Washington Carver. His meticulous research led to the creation of a "forward-looking" agricultural science that devised ways to improve soil health – using crop rotation to grow nitrogenous leguminous crops and restore soil health in land that had been depleted of fertility by monoculture. As a result, he became a pioneer in regenerative agriculture science in the United States.
Hawken inherited Carver's mantle and conducted in-depth research into regenerative agriculture as well. He had it in his mindRegenerative agriculture, including agroforestry, agroecology, forestry and pastoralism, pasture planting, organic enhancement and advanced rotational grazing。Specific approaches include no-tillage, compound cover crops, grassland crops, perennial crops, animal integration and crop diversification, with one of the goals of sequestering carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, improving soil health and contributing to a significant increase in soil carbon content.
It is the ecological synergy of nature.
Nowadays,Advances in crop diversity, microbiology, soil chemistry and animal integration in regenerative agriculture have made it an emerging technology
*: Popular Science Times.
Author: Yin Chuanhong.
Source: Visual China.
Editor: Wu Qiong.
Review: Wang Fei.
Final review: Yin Chuanhong.