Global push for regenerative agriculture stalls without financial incentives and market rewards

Efforts to transform global food systems through regenerative agriculture are gaining traction, but researchers caution that economic, technical, and policy barriers still limit widespread adoption. In a recent study, researchers assess the scalability, ecological benefits, and socio-economic challenges of the approach, offering a practice-based framework for overcoming obstacles.

The review, titled "Regenerative Agriculture: Insights and Challenges in Farmer Adoption" and published in Sustainability, positions regenerative agriculture (RA) as a holistic, scalable farming model that integrates environmental restoration with farmer livelihoods, setting it apart from traditional organic systems through its flexibility, conditional input use, and emphasis on measurable environmental and social outcomes.

Regenerative agriculture defined: Principles and scope

The study traces RA’s evolution from early organic farming movements, noting its focus on restoring degraded agricultural lands rather than merely maintaining current productivity levels. While conventional farming practices have driven large-scale yields, they have also degraded soils, reduced biodiversity, polluted water systems, and contributed significantly to greenhouse gas emissions. RA responds to these impacts by promoting principles that minimize soil disturbance, reduce chemical inputs, maximize biodiversity, keep soils covered year-round, and adapt practices to local conditions.

Unlike many organic certifications that prohibit synthetic inputs outright, RA permits their conditional use, such as mineral nitrogen fertilizers when organic sources are unavailable or targeted herbicide applications during transition periods, provided that core regenerative principles are upheld. The Regenerative Organic Certified® standard, established in 2017, incorporates benchmarks for soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness, offering a multidimensional sustainability framework that is gaining international recognition.

The study identifies seven key practices that are central to RA. These include:

No-Tillage Farming: Reducing or eliminating soil tillage prevents erosion, increases soil carbon sequestration, and lowers fuel costs. The method maintains soil structure and biodiversity while cutting labor time. However, it often requires costly specialized machinery and can lead to greater herbicide reliance, particularly in large-scale grain systems. Adoption in smallholder contexts remains limited due to financial and equipment constraints.

Crop Rotation: Rotating crops disrupts pest and disease cycles, improves soil nutrient availability, and enhances biodiversity. Incorporating legumes into rotations boosts nitrogen fixation and phosphorus availability, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers. Yet many farmers avoid rotation when alternative crops generate lower returns, as the practice can temporarily reduce income and demand additional specialized equipment.

Winter Cover Crops: These crops protect soils from erosion during non-growing seasons, reduce nitrate leaching, and improve soil structure and organic matter content. They also help suppress weeds and soilborne diseases. Challenges arise when winter crops compete with high-value cash crops for space and resources, particularly in horticultural systems.

Green Manures: Primarily legume-based, green manures enrich soil fertility, enhance microbial activity, and increase organic matter. They release nutrients rapidly upon decomposition, benefiting subsequent crops. However, the risk of nitrogen losses through volatilization and the costs of seed and management can hinder adoption.

Intercropping: Growing multiple species together improves nutrient cycling, land-use efficiency, and resilience against pests. The practice has shown higher productivity in smallholder systems but faces mechanization challenges in large-scale grain farming, where manual labor demands can outweigh benefits.

Cover Cropping in Perennial Systems: In orchards and vineyards, cover crops improve soil health, control erosion, enhance biodiversity, and sequester carbon. Selecting species adapted to local water availability is critical, especially in arid regions where competition for scarce water can reduce yields. Management strategies such as mulching or grazing can optimize benefits while mitigating competition.

Integrated Crop–Livestock Systems: Combining crops and livestock closes nutrient loops, diversifies income, and improves soil organic matter and structure. This integration can be economically and ecologically beneficial but requires significant land, labor, and infrastructure. In perennial systems, grazing schedules must be carefully managed to avoid damaging crops.

These methods have long been supported by scientific evidence for their environmental benefits, but the authors emphasize that scaling them requires overcoming entrenched socio-economic and technical barriers.

Scaling regenerative agriculture: Challenges and policy pathways

The study identifies persistent barriers to adoption that range from high equipment and input costs to market structures that fail to reward regenerative products. Smallholder farmers often face limited access to credit and extension services, while large-scale operators may resist changes that risk short-term profitability. Structural issues such as fragmented landholdings, degraded soils, and competition for water exacerbate the difficulty of implementation.

Environmental constraints also play a role. Severe soil degradation, altered hydrological regimes, and the removal of natural buffers like forests can undermine the effectiveness of RA practices. In some regions, policy and institutional frameworks remain poorly aligned with regenerative goals, offering few incentives or safeguards to support transition.

To address these challenges, the study calls for targeted interventions tailored to farm size and regional conditions. In the short term, knowledge transfer, affordable equipment access, and transitional financial support are key. Long-term strategies should focus on building resilient markets for regenerative products, strengthening certification credibility, and embedding RA into agricultural policy frameworks.

The authors stress that financial viability is critical: farmers are unlikely to adopt practices that threaten their income without compensation or market rewards. Mechanisms such as cost-sharing programs, direct subsidies, and price premiums for certified products can help offset transition risks. Consumer education is equally important to build demand for goods produced under regenerative systems.