REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
Be the change you are seeking and lead by example.
REGENERATIVE land management
Combating desertification, soil erosion and helping against climate change
Desertification in Portugal
An estimated 45% of European soils have low organic matter content, principally in Southern Europe. Soil degradation is already intense in parts of the Mediterranean and central-eastern Europe and, together with prolonged drought periods and wildfires.
Climatic conditions make the Mediterranean region one of the areas most severely affected by land degradation. 12 of the 27 European Union Member States declared themselves as affected countries under the 1992 United Nation Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD)
ASSESSING THE PROBLEM
LAND DEGRADATION due to unsustainable practices in the Agriculture and Forestry sectors combined with poor land management. Without proper action, over 50 million people worldwide could be displaced by desertification and land degradation in the next decade.
Although desertification is not a new problem, world-wide population awareness is increasing.
Most of the causes of the spreading of desertification are human activities. Over exploitation of water and soil, and an excessive use of agro-chemical products. Local farmers misuse land due to lack of knowledge about long term consequences of their actions and about adequate techniques to prevent erosion and restore degraded soils. In Alentejo, since the beginning of the wheat campaign in 1929 intense soil degradation, agricultural mechanisation destroyed its superficial layer of fertile soil. Small farmers faced bankruptcy and migrated to the big cities.
Sources
Desertification indicator system for the Mediterranean
Climate change post
Scientific and technical bulletin
Soil Desertification
Aridity index in Portugal
What is regenerative land management
Regenerative Agriculture is a set of farming principles and practices that increases soil microbial activity and biomass by incorporating organic matter in the soils.
Regenerative Agriculture aims to capture carbon in the soil, build topsoil, prevent soil erosion and increase water filtration without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
WHY REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE
Conventional farming practices and soil disturbance lead to soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and a decrease in soil carbon sequestration.
As landowners, we have a responsibility to ourselves and the next generation to farm in a way that has the least impact on the planet whilst ensuring that our soils are improving over the years.
ACTION TO BE TAKEN
✅ Water conservation education
✅ Introduce rotational grazing
✅ No-till farming
✅ Raise public awareness of soil degradation
✅ Recover and regenerate affected areas
✅ Attracting young population back to the farms
WHAT WE DO
Quintafeira offers regenerative advice and land management services to both onsite farmers and absentee farm owners. Our services include soil preparations with a well selected mix of cover crops suited best for your requirements and required seasonal crops. We also offer onsite training for farm owners wanting to learn more about regenerative farming.
HOW WE DO IT
✅ Making and applying organic composting system
✅ Encourage natural ecosystems as pest control
✅ Implement a holistic rotational grazing regime
✅ Planning and implementing effective water retaining landscapes
✅ Priory placement of perennial vegetation
✅ Soil building with green manures
Farming for the future
HEALTHY SOIL = HEALTHY PLANET
If you want to make small changes, change the way you DO things
If you want to make big changes, change the way you SEE things.
