What are the most effective ways to promote biodiversity in agriculture?

Choose heirloom seeds, make compost and stop using synthetic inputs. The more variety of trees and plants, the more likely a variety of microbes, insects, mammals and birds will feed or take refuge within. All biodiversity is important and each species holds a necessary role within each ecosystem. The more species and connections, the tighter the web which means more resilience within the system.

Make the money available to make these ideas happen. it is time to start doing. We are out of time, there are proven projects that need funding now, let's make sure we allow access to the funds.

Include nature inspired garden education as part of a child’s curricula. Education and a seed in the hands of a child can transform communities.

Think about your humble earthworm your free soil engineer! Get as much organic matter into your soil and avoid synthetic fertilisers. Look around, if you have to!, for biowaste on your farm, spoilt crops, manures, plant stalks/straws, trees and biproducts, bark, clippings etc and get them into your soil. Not a quick fix but over time ,avoiding the synthetics, your soil will return to a power house of self producing nutrients and minerals along with improved biodiversity

Change away from chemical farming by adopting strict no-kill protocols and allow nature to restore its natural balance between soils and plants. Regenerative approaches should be put in place immediately.

To nourish soil biodiversity, it is key to keep the soil covered all the time. This ensures plant roots continue to hold soil structure and feed photosynthesis products to soil microbes, and protects from harsh temperatures, UV, and erosion from winds and rains. Cover cropping and avoiding crops like corn that usually are harvested too late to offer time to replant a cover crop by winter are important levers. The soil biodiversity (microbes, mycorrhizae, ciliates, nematodes, worms and a myriad of microarthropods) are the basis of the food chain by and thus biodiversity. They also create soil structure, decompacting it. With them, birds, hedgehogs etc. could come back. If we don’t act too late.

This is an unpopular opinion, however, organic agriculture uses pesticides. It is also well documented that there is a yield gap of 15 to 30% when comparing organic to conventional agriculture. As the population increases, it is imperative to remember that we need to grow more food from less land in the future.

As worms break down organic matter they make available plant ready nutrient and minerals. Growth hormone and other plant beneficial properties are generated thus giving the plant a ready source of all it needs to grow healthily and fight of infection and pests.

Organic pesticides degrade quickly into non-toxic substances, unlike chemical pesticides that persist in the environment for several human generations. Organic yields do lag in the early years of transition from chemical Ag to living soils, however, once soil is alive again the yield drag is negligible, but the ROI is off the charts for the farmer. Companion planting is the use of cover crops that grow slowly with the cash crop, such as corn, the cover crop grows quickly after the cash-crop harvest, covering the soil during the winter.

Organic practices of weed management are the worst example of soil degradation and biodiversity loss. The listed outcomes belong to the category of no-till regenerative agriculture, which offers the most balanced roadmap for food production.

These are some benefits that can be gained by restoring and enhancing natural habitats like #hedgerows, #pollinatorbelts, #wetlands and #riparianbuffers: #Hedgerows and #PollinatorBelts offer these benefits: Increased wildlife and biodiversity Lower insecticide use Improved soil health and erosion control Water quality improvement Carbon sequestration #Wetlands and #Riparianbuffers (areas around rivers, streams, lakes and ponds) allow water to be filtrated and absorbed in the ground that recharges wells and springs. They also allow good planting opportunities for pollinator friendly plants. The tried and true adage: "Slow it, spread it, sink it" is a good visual for the goal of these tried and true opportunities. Nature knows best!

Agroforestry Integration: Encourage smallholder farmers to incorporate agroforestry practices by planting a diverse range of trees alongside crops. This not only enhances biodiversity but also provides additional ecosystem services, such as improved soil fertility and water retention.

Syntropic Farming embodies a 'share' approach, merging productive land use with biodiversity revival. It transcends the outdated 'farming vs. nature' narrative by integrating natural habitats directly into agricultural practices. This method supports biodiversity not just around but within the farm, with diverse plant and animal species coexisting. This approach mitigates soil erosion, enhances water quality, and contributes to carbon storage, all while maintaining productive land. Syntropic Farming illustrates that agricultural land can be a dynamic space for both food production and ecological restoration.

Applying mulches from wastes can helpfull in crease indigenous worm populations. As a result, not only being a nutrient and mineral producer, worms are a essential food source for small animals and birds all part of the ecosystem

Um dos estados brasileiros que mais preservam suas nascentes e matas ciliares pelos produtores rurais é o Mato Grosso, um exemplo onde produ??o e preserva??o ambiental caminham juntos! Hoje o maior celeiro do mundo.

Focus on three areas: 1. Build soil. 2. Build biodiversity. 3. Build water quality and retention. These are interconnected and improvement in one area will benefit the other two!

Many people and businesses produce wastes that can readily benefit our environments. Knowledge comes first of the value of waste before waste producers can make the choices where their waste can be diverted through rather than land fill. It could be a vermicomposter, a community composting organisation or community growing initiative

Cooperativas Agrícolas: Colaborar com outros agricultores para compartilhar recursos, conhecimento e boas práticas. Redes de Agricultores: Conectar-se a redes que promovem práticas agrícolas sustentáveis e biodiversidade. Certifica??es: Adotar sistemas de certifica??o que incentivam práticas amigas da biodiversidade e sustentabilidade. Mercados Sustentáveis: Vender produtos em mercados que valorizam e promovem produtos agrícolas que conservam a biodiversidade. Programas Educacionais: Participar de programas educacionais para aumentar a conscientiza??o sobre a biodiversidade e sua importancia.

Desde mi punto de vista cada vez existe cada vez una mayor número de iniciativas a la hora de promover colaboración entre los Agricultores y Ganaderos, no sólo en los "grandes" sino también especialmente en los más peque?o. Fruto de ello surgen iniciativas fantásticas de poner en valor los productos de Km0 en los que la calidad de los mismos es muy elevada y son muy saludables. De esta manera esas agrupaciones de personas o empresas, bien sea por sectores o por iniciativas comunes, contribuyen a fortalecer la producción y la venta de un tipo de producto saludable y de alto valor a?adido.

I totally agree with this. Collaboration with farmers in these initiatives is the beginning of success. They will own it and understand why this is important for the ecosystem.

Hoy en día además de percibir y decidir en un negocio empresarial en relación con la Agricultura y Ganadería es necesario tomar datos, analizarlos y saber sacar conclusiones claras para tomar las mejores decisiones posibles. Para ello es necesario contar con mecanismos de evaluación e indicadores (KPIs) claros de cara a poder tomar acciones claves para ver si el impacto de nuestro cultivos o ganados son como nosotros esperamos. Tecnología, conocimiento, formación, colaboración, sinergias, descarbonización...son factores claves para todo ello.

Moving to an outcome based system where you measure directly the outcomes and impact you have on the environment and biodiversity

Embrace new innovations that bring impact and positive outcomes on diversity. For example, both gene editing and GM traits have the ability to potentially reduce the use of pesticides.

Atualiza??o Constante: Manter-se informado sobre as últimas pesquisas e tendências em biodiversidade e agricultura. Experimenta??o: Testar novas técnicas, tecnologias e práticas agrícolas que sejam amigas da biodiversidade. Adapta??o às Mudan?as: Ajustar as práticas conforme as condi??es e desafios evoluem. Melhoria de Desempenho: Buscar constantemente melhorias no desempenho e na eficiência. Contribui??o para o Avan?o: Colaborar com pesquisadores e outros agricultores para avan?ar no conhecimento e práticas de agricultura sustentável.

Gene editing and GM traits, while falsely claimed to potentially reduce pesticide use, overlook nature's complexity and lead to pest resistance. In contrast, Syntropic Farming learns from nature rather than trying to engineer or dominate it. This approach fosters biodiversity and natural pest control within balanced ecosystems, effectively managing pests without genetic modification. By mimicking natural systems, Syntropic Farming provides a sustainable, holistic alternative for long-term pest management, demonstrating respect for ecological interactions and reducing reliance on human-engineered solutions. We are not the intelligence of the system. We are part of an intelligent system.

There is full knowledge for your question on landscape ecology: increase biodiversity, corridors, mixed crops, enrichment of soils, atraction of polinators, and many others. This is a full branch of science which is not been taking into consideration, while talking of "innovations in agriculture"

Implemented no-kill farming practices and add tons of mulch, if achievable implement a syntropic farming protocol or something close to that, re-creating the indigenous forests soils

Increasing biodiversity, can benefit farmers by improving agricultural productivity potential. Biodiversity is more than simply the collection of plants and animals on earth; it is about local ecosystems and promoting healthy conditions for organisms to thrive. Biodiversity is important for the regulation of ecosystem processes and delivery of ecosystem services. Farming approaches can be tailored to benefit wildlife and biodiversity, which in turn can increase ecosystem stability in the face of environmental change, without reducing the potential for agricultural yield. Land use and management intensity are key factors influencing biodiversity in the agro-ecosystem, as this reduces food and habitat availability for wildlife.

Include a regenerative "community farm" in every elementary school. Most children think their food comes from a store. They can grow to be customers of famers who increase biodiversity. They can also influence their parents.

Biodiversity provides the natural capital which provisions us with the dividend of ecosystem services and functions that are able to replace external inputs by the use of ecological engineering, knowledge and cultural wisdom by design and outputs of good agroecological and organic farming systems.

Biodiversity entails a balance in the interactions among all organisms in ecosystem. This can be maintained by adopting regenerative farming, mantaining good animal stock levels, farmers should not heavily rely on chemical raw materials etc.