Systematic review of regenerative farming: Addressing agricultural sustainability challenges

Abstract The‍‌ purpose of this systematic review article is to understand the impact of regenerative farming on agricultural sustainability, including its environmental, technological, social, and economic implications. With such a significant amount of evidence from 31 research studies conducted in the period from 2014 to 2024, the review tries to answer three primary questions: what positive effects do regenerative farming methods have on the environment, in what way technology could facilitate the practices to be scaled up, and the possibilities that could both explain and be the result of such a drive towards agriculture that is not only sustainable but can also provide food security globally and what challenges exist and possible ‍‌solutions. The review finds that adoption of regenerative farming practices, as defined globally, improves soil health, increases biodiversity, and expands carbon sequestration, all of which restore the ecosystem and improve the climate. Newer techniques for farming, like soil-monitoring and precision agriculture systems, play an essential role in ensuring that resource application efficiency is maximized, and widespread adoption is achieved. In addition to these threads, possibilities for collaborative strategies and innovation-led approaches persist, but there are problems of policy limitations, farmers’ understanding and adoption, and financial availability. The research highlights the necessity to combine different types of methods: experimental approaches, policy approaches, and qualitative methods, to evaluate the transformative potential of regenerative farming. This review acts as a basis for other research and practical approaches to promote sustainable regenerative farming systems around the world.