Crop rotation, grassing over and green manure were the traditional agricultural techniques used to ensure soil health – that is, the living ecosystem that maintains the soil’s fertility.
Superseded by industrial chemicals and extensive mechanisation – which, with the advent of monoculture, have helped to radically transform the agricultural landscape – these techniques are now being rediscovered through so-called regenerative or conservation agriculture.
This reflects a growing realisation that the soil is not merely a substrate to be broken up, sterilised or fertilised, but a heritage to be safeguarded and nurtured.
Therefore, the aim is to increase organic matter and microbial activity, to carry out minimal tillage so as not to damage the soil structure, to keep the soil covered to prevent erosion whilst promoting biodiversity. And, no less importantly, to ensure livestock farming to close the natural nutrient cycle.
