Regenerative agriculture is a system of crop and/or livestock production based in Indigenous knowledge that recognizes that natural ecosystems are complex networks that support farms and societies in multiple ways. Through the lens of soil conservation, regenerative agriculture actively seeks to restore and improve the numerous provisioning, supporting, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services that society depends on while operating within the natural resource constraints of a specific area. These ecosystem services include human health—particularly farmworker health and safety, nutrient cycling, erosion prevention, biodiversity, and water filtration, and cultural services such as social connection and spiritual traditions that lead to social outcomes such as farmer wellbeing and farmer innovation. Both individual practices and groups of agricultural practices (including/such as organic farming) are regenerative if they help restore and improve ecosystem services without having negative impacts on human health.

Natural Resources Defense Council for the CDFA Science Advisory Panel, Scientific Literature Review of Regenerative Agriculture Definitions, Practices, and Outcomes

Source category: Scientific and Technical Literature

Regenerative agriculture has at its core the intention to improve the health of soil or to restore highly degraded soil, which symbiotically enhances the quality of water, vegetation and land-productivity.

Rhodes, C. J. (2017). The imperative for regenerative agriculture. Sci. Prog. 100, 80–129. doi: 10.3184/003685017X14876775256165

Source category: Scientific and Technical Literature