b'most importantly working together to incu-bate and trial to confirm we are bringing valuable solutions to their farms, Allerding says. KWS Molthan says another impor-tant aspect closely connected with the idea of regenerative agriculture and soil health is optimizing soil structure while reducing or avoiding soil tillage measurements. Catch crops such as oil radish, mustard, and leg-umes can make an important contribution in this regard, he says. Such crops pro-vide good root penetration and increase the humus content of the soil, [and] they help to make the soil more resistant to stress, have better water retention capacity, and less prone to erosion during heavy rainfall. Moreover, such crops help conserve nutri-ents from the soil in plants biomass, mobi-lizing nutrients that are difficult to access in the soil and fixing nitrogen from the air with the help of nodule bacteria. Martin van der Voort Markus MolthanBASFs Stenull says farmers should be at the centre of agricultural transforma-tion. They have known their land and their practices for decades or even generationstruth data as well as remote sensing infor- for commercially available products, all and are the best advocates to preserve theirmation were collected to evaluate the soilwhile hoping to share this knowledge and land for future generations. BASF intendsconditions and the crop growth. Farm gateenable farmers to adopt these regenerative to support farmers who want to integrateinputs and farm structural information wereag practices.regenerative practices by providing innova- systematically recorded to estimate energyLidea is another company engaging tive crop solutions from seeds to crop pro- balances, carbon footprints, and economicin intensive trialling to best align with tection, as well as decision support systems.performance.customer needs. We have an extensive She adds that crop-specific multi-year trialsThe comparison of the cotton standardtrial network throughout Europe, and this are also a key priority for BASF, allowing(CSF) and regenerative practices (CSF+) inyear we are launching an R&D program the company to gain experience in the opti- Greek regions concerning carbon footprintto measure biomass using satellite remote mization of agronomic practices and meas- and economic performance was performedsensing to observe the development kinetics ure the benefits with different in-housewith BASFs sustainability assessmentof our products and confirm their perfor-tools that can be used to quantify, report,tool, AgBalance, which has also been usedmance, says Montet.and value the positive impacts in the down- to measure carbon sequestration based onHorta EUs Manstretta says oppor-stream value chain. IPCC Tier 2 methodology. Its economictunity lies ahead. EU projects like and environmental results aim to validateAGRESTIC and PLOUTOS have demon-SWE: HOW DO YOU MAKE SURE THATthe CSF+ protocol for sustainable cottonstrated the feasibility of long-term carbon YOUR EFFORTS ARE A GOOD FIT WITHproduction in Greece. sequestration in regenerative agriculture, YOUR CUSTOMERS REGIONAL PRIORI- As Incotec is a seed enhancement com- leading to perceived benefits by farmers. TIES, PERSPECTIVES AND REALITIES?pany with production locations on everyInitially, smallholders were interested in Van der Voort shares that all of Bejocontinent, we are the first to acknowledgecarbon credits, but the projects empha-Zadens sustainable/regenerative/organicthat every region has their requirements,sized the agronomic benefits of sustainable activities aim to reduce or even reverse thegiven the variety of crops and climatologi- cropping systems during farmer training. potential negative effects that conventionalcal conditions, says Hoeltgebaum. To makePioneer farmers and long-term trials con-agricultural practices can have on the envi- sure that Incotecs efforts fit the needs ofducted by Horta have shown that regenera-ronment (soil, water, biodiversity). We areits customers and their locations, he saystive agriculture can positively impact yield, conducting all these activities in close coop- the company stays in close contact withquality, and ecosystems at a reasonable cost eration with our customers, he adds. customers. when farmers agree to change specific farm BASF conducts regional trials toAllerding says Syngenta has ongoingmanagement practices.ensure regenerative efforts suit local con- regenerative agriculture plots across theIn Part 2 of this regenerative agricul-ditions. We established pilot fields inglobe, from the United States to Israel toture series, we will look at some examples of three different cotton-growing regions inthe Western Cape, South Africa. Togetherregenerative agricultural practices that the Greece: Trikala, Komotini, and Magnesia,with farmers and our partners, we are usingcompanies have implemented and whether which started in 2022 and repeated inthese plots to properly design trials in thethese practices can provide the same yield 2023, indicates Carmagnola. Groundnear future, both for seed production andas conventional agriculture.24ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE'