Regenerative Agriculture includes farming practices that improve soil health and the resulting ability of soil to indefinitely support profitable crop production. This guide is designed to convey the basic practices and benefits of Regenerative Agriculture to a
broad audience working in the cotton industry. There are many benefits to farmers and the community. Farmers benefit from: enhanced water and nutrient uptake by roots; reduced fuel, chemical and labor cost; and avoiding soil loss from tillage. For the
surrounding community, soil health improves air and water quality by reducing dust and downstream flooding, siltation, and eutrophication. Both farmers and the community benefit from the ability of soil health to improve the profitability of farming, to sequester
carbon, and to make our food, feed, and fiber supply more resilient to adverse weather. The cotton industry has a history of connecting farmers to the textile industry and textile consumers. Many of the Regenerative Agriculture practices have been widely adopted by cotton farmers due to their cost savings and pest management benefits. This is especially true in industrialized farming communities but lagging where resources are sparse. Adoption can be further stimulated with educational and financial support from
governments, NGOs, and textile consumers. Cotton farmers are ideally suited because of their commitment to continual improvement in both fiber quality and farming practices (a key tenant of Regenerative Agriculture). As climate change increases in severity,
Regenerative Agriculture will play an expanding role in protecting crop yields and sequestering carbon. Many future innovations will facilitate further adoption by both well-resourced and limited resource cotton farmers.