Regenerative farm plans sought
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is calling for proposals for projects that will investigate regenerative farming practices.
Funding for successful proposals is available through MPI’s Sustainable Food& Fibre Futures (SFF Futures) coinvestment fund. The fund aims to have projects under wayby mid-2021.
“There is increasing interest from farmers and the wider community about regenerative agricultural practices, but definitions for regenerative agriculture can vary dramatically,” says Steve Penno, MPI’s director investment programmes.
“We’re looking to define what regenerative agriculture meansfrom aNewZealand perspective, and develop a sound evidence base to test and confirm what works in our soils, climates, and farming systems.”
MPI’s chief science adviser Dr John Roche says broadly speaking, MPI sees regenerative farming as a set of practices that, in isolation or collectively, mayresult in improved outcomes for our productive land, freshwater and marine environments, our climate, our animals, and for the people that grow and consume our food and fibre products.
“Regenerative agriculture is not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ activity with prescribed inputs and outputs and the farmers I’ve spoken with do not want it defined so tightly.
“Some of the practicesNew Zealand farmers are already using could be considered regenerative. By determining which farming practices have a positive impact on environmental sustainability andhumanhealth and wellbeing in theNewZealand context, we’ll be able to confidently share these regenerative practices widely with farmers.
“Regenerative agriculture also has the potential to help our food and fibres sector to produce higher value products with even stronger environmental credentials.
“An important part of these projects will be turning the findings into practical information for farmers, to help them adopt methods that areshownto work.”
MrPenno says the Primary Sector Council’s Fit for aBetter World vision and MPI’s Fit for aBetter World— Accelerating our Economic Potential roadmap recognises the importance of Te Taiao (care for our natural world) and the role regenerative systems could play in transitioning to amore sustainable future for our food and fibres sector.
“We’re excited about what the futuremayhold in the regenerative agriculture space andweencourage anyone whothinks their idea might be eligible to get in touch.”