Regenerative agriculture – an approach for a knowledge-based definition

Autor: Möller K.; Blecher T.; Bodner G.; Böhmer J.; Eichler-Löbermann B.; Fritz M.; Herrmann A.; Klöcker D.; Koch H.-J.; Macholdt J.; Menskes D.; Moll M.; Poetsch J.; Rapp C.; Schäfer T.; Schmidtke K.; Pekrun C.
In:

Journal für Kulturpflanzen

DOI: 10.5073/JfK.2025.01.13
Seite: 110 - 131
Jahr: 2025

Einordung:
Institut: Professur Pflanzenbau

Abstract:
Regenerative agriculture is currently a frequently used term and is also seen as an approach to implementing political guidelines such as the European Farm-to-Fork Strategy or the German Arable Farming Strategy. When reviewing the prac- tical recommendations and literature, as well as the ideas of the first proponents, regenerative agriculture can be traced back to the following principles, among others: a) high soil protection standards, b) soil organic matter build-up, c) pro- motion and use of functional biodiversity, d) reduction of the use of chemically-synthesized products and e) climate protec- tion. Numerous measures serve these purposes, such as a re- duction in tillage intensity, diverse crop rotations with regular cultivation of catch crop mixtures and undersown crops, inte- gration of legumes in crop rotations, mixed cultivation wher- ever possible and justifiable. Furthermore, application of the recommendations of the official bodies of the federal states for fertilization and plant protection, minimizing the applica- tion of growth regulators and insecticides. At the same time, implementation of biodiversity-promoting measures (e.g. permanent crops, agroforestry, flower strips and fields, flow- ering undersown crops). However, there is no generally rec- ognized definition of management elements for regenerative agriculture nor defined targets. We suggest that a definition along targets would be more useful, e.g. reducing the risk of erosion by 50% compared to good agricultural practice, addi- tionally reducing product-related greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen losses or the use of pesticides by 50% and targeting an increase of biodiversity indices by 50% at the same time. With this in mind, the authors are convinced that the defi- nition of regenerative agriculture along defined objectives could be a way to define regenerative agriculture and to use this as a basis for certification and placement within the agri- cultural value chain.

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