It can be difficult to understand the different food production methods around the world. But the ability to tell one from the other is key for both consumers and policymakers. Harpinder Sandhu analyses four farming systems and why they matter for the environment, food policies and consumer food choices.

The terms organic, regenerative, and natural farming are increasingly being bandied about. But what do these terms really mean? It can be baffling for consumers to try to understand whether they are same or different, and why it matters.

To understand what these different labels really mean, it is best to start with understanding what intensive (industrial) agriculture is, as this has, for better or worse, become the backdrop against which these other alternative forms of agriculture are seen, perceived and measured.

The four food production systems

Intensive agriculture

This is a modern, high input and output farming system that aims to maximise food production. It uses modified seeds (both through traditional plant breeding and genetic modification), chemical fertilisers and pesticides, large-scale machinery, and advanced technologies to grow food. Up to 80 per cent of our food is grown by industrial agriculture. Intensive agriculture has negative impacts on the environment (loss of biodiversity, soil degradation), society (loss of family farms, poor wages to farm workers), and health (obesity, malnutrition).

Natural farming

This system aims to produce food in a holistic way by maintaining a balance between crop and soil health. It focuses on the well-being of farmers and consumers. The idea is to improve and maintain soil health by maintaining soil cover, using biostimulants for pest and disease control, encouraging the use of indigenous seeds and prohibiting agrochemicals.

As noted by Sir Albert Howard, natural farming originated in India. Between 1905 and 1931, during his twenty-six years of service as an imperial economic botanist and director of the Institute of Plant Industry (Indore, India), Sir Albert observed and described natural farming as a system that follows the rhythms and cycles of nature to produce food. During his time in India, he formalised the principles of natural farming. These principles then inspired Eve Balfour and Jerome Rodale as they pioneered organic farming movements in the UK and the US. From 1979 onwards, the term natural farming was re-popularised by Japanese farmer and philosopher Masanobu Fukuoka as the science of growing food naturally.

Organic agriculture

This is defined as a method to grow food without synthetic inputs such as chemical fertilisers, genetically modified seeds, growth hormones, and antibiotics. The organic movement began in the early 20th century. Organic food is grown using principles that are largely based on standards advocated by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). IFOAM-Organics International is a global agricultural organisation that works in over 100 countries worldwide. It provides guidelines, standards and advocacy support to organic farmers, retailers and consumers, and promotes certified organic produce. Unlike natural farming, organic food growth can also be an intensive process as some large-scale organic operations require heavy machinery in production, processing and distribution (like intensive agriculture).

Regenerative farming

This term was coined by the Rodale Institute in 1980 and has become very popular in the last five years. However, the principles and practises of regenerative agriculture have existed long before then. It is defined as the system of food production that promotes the judicious use of inputs, promotes farmers’ well-being, and focuses on improving human and soil health.

However, in the last five years, many large food corporations are aligning themselves superficially with regenerative agriculture and, in the process, hijacking the meaning of regenerative agriculture. At COP 28, large corporations pushed for reducing carbon emissions but sidelined the equally important holistic principles of regenerative agriculture. Regenerative farming is growing rapidly in Australia, the UK and the US. Although the organisation Regeneration International works in over 70 countries around the world, currently no standards and principles for regenerative agriculture exist.

Why differences matter

Comparing and contrasting these four systems allows us to make the following conclusions. Natural farming is a highly productive system with better social and ecological outcomes, but it is more successful on small farms. Regenerative farming produces sufficient food and is comparable to natural farming in social and ecological outcomes. It is currently being adopted at both small and large farms worldwide. Organic farming is often linked with high costs to consumers in the market, while intensive agriculture is linked with high costs to society and the planet.

It is important to trust farmers’ networks for food produced via natural farming, as the community self-governs this method. As one example, nearly one million smallholder farmers in Andhra Pradesh, India, have adopted natural farming over the last twenty years, supported by the state government. The regenerative farming community is still in its early days of marketing its produce with a label. Farmers’ networks practising regenerative farming can promote their produce as grown using sustainable practices and reach out to consumers to influence their buying behaviour. Organic food, in contrast, is easy to identify as it always comes with a label issued by an organic certifying authority.

The idea here is not to pitch these against each other. Instead, we need a balanced mix of all four for sustainable, judicious and equitable food systems. Understanding these (sometimes subtle, but nevertheless important) differences will enable policymakers to make informed decisions about policies regarding different forms of farming systems.

For example, in India, the recently launched National Mission on Natural Farming is designed to safeguard Indian agriculture against environmental risks. The government is targeting 10 million small-scale farmers to adopt natural farming by 2026. This will help improve the livelihood of millions of farmers and improve the climate resilience of farms. Millions of consumers will have access to food grown in a natural way and free from harmful chemicals.

Being clear about these differences will enable farmers to navigate the certification landscape confidently without running into greenwashing minefields. Knowing what these terms mean will allow consumers to make well-considered decisions about the methods of food production they choose to support and what food they put on their tables.

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• The author is working on the project Regenerative farming: is it the way forward for agriculture in India? An empirical investigation across all agro-climatic zones for the transformation of Indian agriculture by 2047.
• This blog post represents the views of its author(s), not the position of LSE Business Review or the London School of Economics and Political Science.
• Featured image provided by Shutterstock.
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