(gentle music)
- So we're talking about
regenerative agriculture,
and this is an introduction
to a short series
of regenerative agriculture videos
that are looking at some
of the key principles.
First principle is minimise disturbance.
The second principle is maximise diversity
in the pasture or in the
sward or in the crop.
The third principle is about
maintaining ground cover.
The fourth principle
is about maintaining
living roots year round.
The fifth principle is
integrating livestock on the farm,
and the sixth principle
is integrating trees,
and we'll talk about each
of these as we go through.
But what is regenerative agriculture?
So the agriculture that we've come to know
has been so successful in
increasing production worldwide,
and it has staved off famine
in a number of countries.
And the reason we have been so successful
is because of the great
tools that have developed
to assist with our
production: fertilisers,
herbicides, pesticides
that protect our crops
and stave off the damaging
impact of predation
by insects and the like.
But there is a growing discontent in terms
of what these production methods mean
for the quality of our food,
for the health and safety of our food,
for the health and
safety of the environment
and all of the creatures
that we share these
wonderful environments with.
Now, it's important to stress
that regenerative agriculture
is not a system that's
set up in competition
with conventional agriculture,
and nor is it intended to criticise
any of the practises of
conventional agriculture.
Rather, regenerative
agriculture is we're trying
to select the best parts
of any production system,
and we're trying to marry them
with what happens in nature,
how natural production works in nature
in terms of biodiversity stability,
in terms of nutrient cycling,
and we're trying to
integrate these elements
to provide a robust, resilient
farming system going forward.
(gentle music)
