Some concepts are used to define the term regenerative agriculture, such as Grant (2017) who defined regenerative agriculture as any form of agricultural practice that actively restores soil quality, ecosystem health, biodiversity and water quality, while producing crops of high nutritional quality.

            The term “regenerative agriculture” was coined in the 1980s by Robert Rodale, with the aim of improving soil quality using organic techniques (MACHADO; RHODEN, 2022). According to Rodale (2014), regenerative agriculture improves resources rather than destroying or depleting them, encouraging continuous innovation in farming, with a focus on environmental, social, and economic well-being. It is worth noting that regardless of the definition of the term, it is a tool for working together soil conservation techniques with the production system, thinking about the continuous use of soil, regenerating soil activity and thus keeping it healthy.

            According to LaCanne and Lundgren (2018), there are five practices that are considerably associated with regenerative agriculture:

            (1) Minimization of soil preparation;

            (2) Elimination of bare soil;

            (3) Promotion of cultural diversity;

            (4) Encouragement of water infiltration into the soil; and

            (5) Integration between livestock and agriculture operations.

            These conservation practices have the potential to accumulate organic carbon in the soil, increasing the capacity to retain water and nutrients and, therefore, potentially contribute to the sequestration of atmospheric carbon by natural means.

            Savory and Duncan (2016) and LaCanne and Lundgren (2018) also explained that low soil preparation levels reduce carbon oxidation, and that eliminating bare soil helps reduce erosion and increase dry matter production through cover crops. Furthermore, they highlighted that avoiding monocultures also increases dry matter production due to the complementarity of light, water, and nutrient use by different crops.

            In addition to the benefits already mentioned, regenerative agriculture can also reduce or even eliminate biocidal chemicals, achieve closed nutrient cycles with greater harvest and biological diversity, treat natural resources and include commitments to animal and social well-being (GILLER et al., 2021).

            Figure 1 highlights the main factors involved in regenerative agriculture, including the application of organic compounds, fertilizers and bioadditives, the implementation of time-controlled planned grazing, stubble retention or execution of biological stubble disintegration, investment in revegetation, interaction between enterprises and crop alteration (DA SILVA, 2023). In addition to these, it is possible to highlight, according to Savory (1998), the following:

• Contribution to natural biological cycles and nutrient transfer;
• Holistic management;
• Application of pasture management and animal impact as farm and ecosystem development tools;
• Construction of interventions in the landscape or watercourses to slow down or capture the flow of water;
• Pasture cultivation;
• Cultivation with direct seeding;
• Incorporation of green manure or sub-sowing of legumes;
• Management to increase species diversity;
• Reduction or cessation of the application of synthetic chemicals.

Figure 1. Illustration of the main factors related to regenerative agriculture.

Source: Adapted from Soils For Life, 2022.

            In view of environmental challenges and the search for more sustainable practices, there is a need to explore alternatives that can optimize the use of fertilizers (DA SILVA, 2023). In soybean fertilization management, for example, only mineral fertilizers are traditionally used. On the other hand, the use of other nutritional sources has been gaining prominence, AZOGEL^® is a matrix manufactured by ILSA for over 60 years and sold on all continents of the world in the most diverse crops. It is an organic matrix obtained from thermal hydrolysis (FCH^®) of collagen where the protein chains are cut by the action of water vapor. In this process, no type of chemical substance is added, which ensures that the matrix remains with a high nutritional value and high homogeneity (without variations in the raw material and guarantees).

            ILSA's organic matrix has a high organic carbon content in its composition, which will enhance the biological activity of the soil, and organic nitrogen, which will be made available for gradual absorption throughout the production cycle of the plants, avoiding losses due to volatilization and leaching, which are generally present in other nitrogen fertilizers. In this way, the absorption of nutrients by the plants occurs more efficiently, which allows for increased agricultural productivity while respecting the environment. Therefore, AZOGEL^® ensures balanced plant nutrition, in accordance with the nutritional requirements of crops in their various phenological phases.

            The value of an organic fertilizer goes beyond the simple supply of nutrients, as its use provides many beneficial effects to the soil. Organic matter acts as a source of energy for beneficial microorganisms (which fix nitrogen from the air in the rhizosphere and fungi that are associated with the roots), improves structure and aeration, and has the ability to store moisture. It has a regulating effect on soil temperature, slows down the fixation of phosphorus and increases the cation exchange capacity (CEC), and helps to retain potassium, calcium, magnesium and other nutrients in forms available to the roots, protecting them from leaching by rainwater or irrigation practices. In addition to all this, some products of its decomposition have a stimulating effect on root development (MALAVOLTA, et al., 2000 p.29).

            Mineral fertilizers, although they present positive results in plant production, are expensive (CHAE et al., 2018), since Brazil is significantly dependent on the import of mineral raw materials (EMBRAPA, 2023). For this reason, there is an interest in studying different sources of inputs, aiming at a more efficient and sustainable management of agricultural production, and in this context, organic sources are promising (GUIMARÃES et al., 2018). Some farmers and manufacturers have chosen to add concentrated mineral fertilizers to organic fertilizers, resulting in organomineral fertilizers (OMF) (CRUSCIOL et al., 2020), and this mixture aims to take advantage of the rapid availability of nutrients in mineral fertilizers, together with the long-term benefits of organic fertilizers (DA SILVA, 2023).

            ILSA Gradual Mix's line of organomineral fertilizers is obtained from the combination of the AZOGEL matrix^® with mineral nutrient raw materials. This combination allows the unlocking of the soil's potential, as the organic matrix will interfere in biological parameters and physical parameters of the soil, while the mineral part of the fertilizer will act on chemical parameters, thus, the influence of these fertilizers on the soil occurs in a more comprehensive way considering all the parameters responsible for the quality and health of the soil.

            Soto et al. (2021) carried out monitoring work on almond farms in southeastern Spain, applying different regenerative agriculture practices and involving local farmers. To evaluate the effects of this practice, they considered (1) minimum tillage with green manure, (2) minimum tillage with organic fertilizers, (3) minimum tillage with green and organic manure, and (4) no-till planting with permanent natural covers and organic additives. Thus, they showed that regenerative agriculture has strong potential to restore the physical, chemical, and biological quality of soils, without compromising their nutritional status.

            In order to maintain maximum productivity, it is important to consider reducing fertilization costs and promoting soil quality (MOTA et al., 2018). In this sense, the use of organic compounds together with fertilizers, both mineral and organomineral, has the potential to increase soil fertility (CABRAL et al., 2020), thus acting as a process that improves soil health and restores a degraded environment, contributing to its productivity. Therefore, the depletion of natural resources (soil and water) is avoided, creating a sustainable environment for food cultivation (RHODES 2017).

Bibliographic references

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Authors

• Agr Eng. Dr. Angélica Schmitz Heinzen
• Agricultural Eng. Msc. Carolina Custodio Pinto
• Agricultural Eng. Msc. Thiago Stella de Freitas