The regeneration index, an agronomic tool to scale up agroecology

• The Regeneration Index (RI): a new tool to evaluate the agroecological level of farms. • Strong heterogeneity in RI scores of farms without environmental certification. • Higher RI in farms with Conservation Agriculture practices than in conventional farms. • Homogeneous RI scores in organic farms with minimum due to their farming principles. • Maximum RI in organic farms limited by technical difficulties to reduce soil tillage. Agroecology lays on well-established agronomic principles that are universal: endogenous soil fertility, plant nutrition in water and mineral nutrients, and crop protection against plant bio-aggressors, all ensured as much as possible by the biological activity in the cultivated ecosystem. However, their implementation must be adapted to the pedo-climatic and socio-economic contexts of each farm. A variety of tools exist to evaluate a farm’s agroecological level and monitor its progression, often with a main objective of pedagogy. In parallel, downstream corporations engaged in the agroecological transition impose on their suppliers’ specifications or certification labels often based on means, ill-adapted to the context of farms, and sometimes at odds with the agronomic principles underlying agroecology. To bridge this major gap between agronomic evaluation and economical valorization, and thus allow for a massive scale-up of agroecology in the field, there is a need for a tool that i) relies on a solid agronomic basis and integrates the key principles of agroecology; ii) does not impose means but sets goals that can be achieved in different technical ways; and iii) allows for direct economical valorization in the supply chain. We present here a new agronomic tool that has been developed to meet these three objectives: the Regeneration Index. After presenting the Regeneration Index’s co-construction process, the details of its indicators and their scientific foundation, we enlighten with a case study the relevance of the Regeneration Index to reconcile actors of supply chains around a robust agronomic core in complementarity with environmental certifications.