STORING CARBON IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD
Regenerative agriculture is attracting a lot of attention as a way to reverse declining soil fertility while pulling carbon out of the atmosphere and stashing it back in the ground. Yet, restoring soil health is not just for farms. It is something we can do in urban places, too, and gardeners can lead the way in their small corners of the world.
Proponents say that regenerative farming, if adopted broadly, could help slow the rate of global warming. With better management, global croplands could store up to an additional 1.85 gigatonnes of carbon each year, or as much as the entire transportation sector emits.
Researchers at the Rodale Institute calculated that replacing conventional farming practices around the world with regenerative ones would allow us to sequester 100 percent of annual global carbon emissions.
This means the way we grow food could help save our planet. It requires major changes in the way farming is practised. Planting a monocrop over vast amounts of acreage, leaving the soil bare for long periods and relying on regular cultivation accelerates the loss of healthy topsoil and releases buried carbon into the air. It also prevents water retention in the soil, through loss
