The University of Washington and partners conducted a study with farmers using regenerative farming practices to analyze their impact on the nutritional content of food. The results are published in PeerJ.
Regenerative farming practices include no-till, use of cover crops, and diverse rotations to conserve biodiversity. To document evidence on the impact of regenerative farming to food, ten farms in the US grew one acre of a test crop for five years, which was compared with the same crop planted on a nearby farm using conventional agriculture.
Results showed that the crops from regenerative farms had a healthier nutritional profile than the same crop grown in the conventional farm. Healthier soils were also observed in the regenerative farms, characterized by their organic matter and higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals which are beneficial to human health. Lower levels of toxic elements were also recorded in the regenerative farms compared to the conventional farm.
(Source: Crop Biotech Update, International Service for Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications. www.isaaa.org)
