Wratten et al. / Agro Sur 47(2): 1-6, 2019 DOI:10.4206/agrosur.2019.v47n2-01 Prospects for regenerative agriculture in Chile Posibilidades para la agricultura regenerativa en Chile Wratten, S.D.a*, Shields, M.W.a, González-Chang, M.b ,c a Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand. b Departamento de Ciencias Naturales y Tecnología, Universidad de Aysén, Coyhaique, Chile. c Centro de Investigación en Suelos Volcánicos, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile. A R T I C L E I N F O ven by changes in land-use practices (Bennetzen et al., 2016). The main consequence has been biodiversity loss Article history: Received: 14.04.2019 (Sala et al., 2000). A very worrying example of this is that Accepted: 15.07.2019 and reptile species extinct since 1970, as consumption Keywords: human activities have made 60% of mammal, bird, fish Agroecology of food and resources by the global human population Sustainable agriculture has de-stabilised the ‘web of life’ (Carrington and Watts, Monoculture - View Point, tem functions provided by nature at an alarming rate Sustainable Agriculture and2018). with In morethat, ecosystemscientific language, (nature’s) we services are losing are ecosys decli- *Corresponding author: ning rapidly. Examples are declines in pollination, preda- Steve Wratten tion of pests and soil services. The seriousness of these E-mail address: losses was recently reported by workers at the Univer- [email protected] 100 harvests remaining before that country’s soils are nosity longer of Sheffield, suitable UK, for who growing predicted crops that (Dunnett, Britain 2014). has only A global perspective, why we need a greener Compounding the above threats to future farming agriculture? was the evidence found by Vitousek et al. (1997), who showed that half the nitrogen circulating in the earth’s “I am a photosynthesis manager and an ecosystem- fresh and salt water, soil and atmosphere is anthropo- service provider”. This profound statement was made by genic. This means that it is based on the use of fossil a Swedish farmer some years ago (Wratten, 2018). Few fuels and put there indirectly by mankind. In fact, we farmers describe their occupation in this way. However, are now considered to be living in the Anthropocene in there is a major body of work giving substantial evi- which man’s activities are affecting the earth at a global dence that current high-input farming (Figure 1) has scale (Zalasiewicz et al., 2010). World population has no future without changes to its approach (Pretty et al., risen 2.5-fold since 1960 and yet per-capita food pro- 2018). One reason for this view is that agriculture is one duction has grown by only 50% over the same period of the main causes of climate disturbance, largely dri- (Tilman, 1999). Achieving that growth in food produc- Figure 1. The ‘perfect monoculture’. Here, lettuce is used as an example. Canterbury, New Zealand. Photo: Alistair Pullin. Figura 1. El ´monocultivo perfecto´. Aquí, lechuga se utiliza como un ejemplo. Canterbury, Nueva Zelanda. Foto: Alistair Pullin. SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE 1 Wratten et al. / Agro Sur 47(2): 1-6, 2019 tion through orthodox agricultural practices has been graded agricultural landscapes (LaCanne and Lund- the largest cause of greenhouse-gas emissions, gross gren, 2018). Thus, the principles behind regenerative consumptive over-use of fresh water, loading of nu- agriculture include abandoning tillage, eliminating trients into the biosphere (nitrogen and phosphorus) spatio-temporal consequences of bare soil, enhancing and a major cause of pollution due to pesticides (Cam- plant diversity on the farm and integrating livestock pbell et al., 2017). and crops in farm operations (LaCanne and Lundgren, Predictions for future production and its negative 2018). In this sense, regenerative agriculture could be consequences are dire, so a new approach is sorely ne- considered as a connected series of agricultural prac- eded. In fact, De Schutter (2010), reported to the Uni- tices that can be applied in agroecological farming ted Nations that if agroecology was adopted by major systems (Figure 2). The latter framework goes beyond food-producing nations, global food yields would dou- ble in one decade. “Business as usual” cannot possibly seeking a paradigm shift in the conception and deve- achieve that. Recognising this, there is a high and in- lopmentenhancing of onlythe wholeproduction food weband involvedefficiency in in conventio farms by- nal agricultural systems, from an economic, social and (Bommarco et al., 2013), which can be perceived as a ecological perspective (Dumont et al., 2018; Gliessman, transitionalcreasing level step of interest towards in ‘sustainablean agroecological intensification’ system - because it uses ecological principles to promote agro- logy of food systems” (Francis et al., 2003). 2018).Pretty Thus, et agroecologyal. (2018), recentlyhas been estimateddefined as thatthe “eco 163 This apparently oxymoronic statement has to a large million farms (29% of all worldwide) have crossed a extentecosystem been sustainability supplanted by (Struik the term and ‘regenerative Kuyper, 2017). agri- - culture’, which is partly based on restoring ecological tion on 453 million hectares of agricultural land (9% functions by promoting functional biodiversity in de- ofredesign worldwide threshold, total). practising The implications sustainable of this intensifica are pro- Figure 2 Figura 2. A diversified agroecological farm. Santa Cruz, California. Photo: Mauricio González-Chang. Una granja agroecológica diversificada. Santa Cruz, California. Foto: Mauricio González-Chang. 2 SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE ... found but the key challenge is the development of im- ge through agroecology is the only approach with good plementation pathways to help farmers effect changes prospects for mitigating hunger in the long term (War- of this type. It would not be an exaggeration to say that ner, 2006; De Schutter, 2010). The aim of this view- most insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and fertilisers point is to discuss potential barriers for a widespread are wasted worldwide, with obvious economic, social adoption of agroecological principles that can enhance and environmental implications. Recent evidence of functional biodiversity in large-scale farming systems this comes from the work of LaCanne and Lundgren in Chile, through regenerative agriculture. (2018), who showed that corn (maize) treated with insecticides had approximately 130 pest individuals Can regenerative agriculture be widely adopted in m-2, while that crop in which some form of regenera- Chile? tive agriculture had been practised (but no insectici- des used) had fewer than 20 pests m-2. The importan- Agriculture in Chile is the second-most relevant ce of this dramatic and surprising result is reinforced primary economic activity after mining, contributing by another recent publication by Fausti et al. (2018), to 7.3% to GDP, in which the production of fruits, ve- which showed that insecticide use on genetically mo- getables, wheat, milk, meat and wine are the most im- portant (ODEPA, 2017). As in many parts of the world, 1969 even though the GM corn used was intended to a high proportion of the Chilean agricultural area is do- reducedified corn numbers in South of some Dakota, pests. USA, This has increase increased in insecti since- minated by monocultures that have a profound impact cide use was derived largely from an increasing relian- on the environment and human health. For example, in ce on monocultural corn rather than mixed-cropping Petorca, Valparaiso region, the monocultural produc- agriculture. Such increases can lead to insecticide re- tion of avocado has been using water from rivers at un- sistance so that some insect species can assume pest precedented rates, with consequences from not only a status which would not be the case if pesticides were hydrological and ecological perspective, but also from not used. A key example is the brown plant hopper a social and ethical one where the quantity of availa- (Niliparvata lugens Stål) on rice which did not have ble water for human consumption has been reduced pest status until prophylactic pesticide use became the (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/ et al., 2016). may/17/chilean-villagers-claim-british-appetite-for- Now, broad-spectrum pesticides are being sold as avocados-is-draining-region-dry). This could be ter- ‘fast-movingnorm (K.L. Heong consumer in Gurr goods’ in many Asian rural out- med ‘consumptive agriculture’. In the latter example, lets, together with food and other items. In some parts regenerative agriculture could increase water availa- of Asia, the level of farmers’ education is so low that bility in soils by enhancing functional biodiversity, as they are unable to decide on the merits or otherwise demonstrated in different parts of the world where of these products (Wyckhuys et al., 2018), which are biodiversity has been promoted (Lin, 2010; Wratten et promoted widely by pesticide companies (Reganold al., 2012; Altieri et al., 2015). Furthermore, from Valpa- raiso to the Maule region, some farms that grow vege- Heong (personal communication) considers that inte- tables as monocultures spray synthetic agro-chemicals gratedand Wachter, pest management 2016). Because (IPM) ofis “dead”this approach, in many couK.L.- up to 12 times season-1 (González-Chang, personal ob- servation). This un-regulated use of agro-chemicals se- IPM approach is crop scouting in which pest