Regenerative agriculture, the key to the food of tomorrow – Publimetro México

The increase in México’s population has led thousands of farmers to develop unsustainable farming techniques who end up leaving the Infertile earth in addition to contaminating tons of inputs with chemicals.

This coupled with the lack of water that the country has presented due to the misuse of it and its exploitation in industrial sectors poses a unfavorable outlook for the agricultural sector.

To solve this problem, new proposals are developed every day in order to face environmental, production and social challenges.

One of them is the regenerative agriculture whose premise lies in return to the origins of farming with scientific innovations that allow the development of natural cycle of the earth to solve the degradation of fertility that occurs when including chemicals, fertilizers and invasive practices.

In favor of sustainable farming

Faced with this panorama, Grupo Bimbo, a baking company with an international presence, has dedicated itself since 2018 to promote the inclusion of regenerative agriculture in wheat and corn plots throughout the country, with a special presence in Sinaloa and Sonora.

Juan Pablo Andrade head of agribusiness of the Group, has been a fundamental piece for promote, develop and implement this practice with those farmers willing to change the course of the primary sector in México.

This company dedicated to the food sector has joined the global efforts to achieve a sustainable production line, which is why it has been added to the three main objectives of the 2050 sustainability agenda.

These goals are focused on obtaining each of their inputs with regenerative agriculture, generating zero emissions net carbon and finally, have a total of zero waste in their products.

Their efforts have been complemented by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), a non-governmental and non-profit organization focused on solving problems present in agriculture in order to improve the quantity, quality and reliability of your harvest.

The joint work consists of instruct and accompany small, medium and large producers in their production process transition towards regenerative agriculture in different parts of the Mexican Republic.

The scientists who make up your institution have a degree of masters and doctorates in the subject and they come from all over the world, which enriches the research they carry out.

What is regenerative agriculture?

The purposes of this practice lie in implementing a series of scientific rather than technological processes when cultivating, which achieve replicate the conditions of the earth’s natural cycle to generate a less impact and wear of the soil, whether due to the use of agrochemicals or invasive practices.

Treatment occurs in three general phases. The first occurs between the harvest and the new sowing, since to begin with it is sought that the soil preserves as many roots as possible so at the time of collection it must be leave the layer of stubble which means about 70% of the grass.

With this, it is possible to create a soca coating that conserves soil moisture which prevents water evaporation and serves as compost, allowing you to plant again on top without the need for a first watering.

According to data provided by CIMMYT, those farmers who do the least damage to the soil have a significant increase in your harvest from the first year when they change to this strategy.

In addition, the more practices that are implemented, the faster the benefits can be noticed; some producers see benefits in their profit from three thousand 500 pesos, according to how damaged their soils are.

“Conservation agriculture implies using fewer steps of machinery, using less agrochemicals, something that in the long term means savings for the producer, since they spend less and do less damage.”

— Eliud Pérez Mendel, director of HUB Pacífico Centro at CIMMYT

Another objective is avoid the use of agrochemicals, replacing them with microorganisms beneficial to the earth. In this way, a self-regulating ecosystem which eliminates the need for polluting agents.

The plowing of the land is also one of the processes that can lead to irreparably damage soils for cultivation. For example, through the process of I chisel the plantings lose their roots which allow the flow of water and the entry of nutrients.

The most important thing to incorporate this practice adequately and efficiently is that farmers commit to complying with each of the points and maintain an open mind.

How and where is it being implemented?

Sonora and Sinaloa, the most important producers of corn and wheat in México, are currently going through a harsh crisis that has permeated the agricultural sector. who have seen reduced its water consumption for the plantation by 50%due to the lack of rain in recent months.

Which translates to a reduction in available rescue risks -which are used when rainfall does not reach the region during the planting season- in the 100 to 130 days that wheat needs to harvest. At the moment only two can be occupied of the four that were usually allowed.

This has led to a decrease of the harvest during the current year, which went from an average of six tons per hectare to four in the best case.

Which has led hundreds of producers to look for alternatives to manage their plantations with the scarce resources they have at this time.

Humberto Escalante is a wheat farmer, with plots located in Sinaloa. He has joined the practice of regenerative agriculture since Bimbo began the project in the region and has seen their farming benefited during this tough drought season to.

At first, only the introduction of insects and beneficial fauna was applied to replace the agrochemicals and today each of the recommended processes is already applied.

With this, it has managed to maintain its average harvest despite seeing its plantation reduced by half, although only ten of its twenty available hectares are occupied, in all of its land you can see water and humidity retention despite being more than a month since its last irrigation.