Nutrient Cycling for Regenerative Transitions: Reducing Synthetic Inputs Through Agroecology and Ecosystem Services

Many farming systems still depend on high levels of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides to maintain yields. This dependence can create trade-offs: nutrient losses to water and air, soil organic matter decline, biodiversity loss, and reduced resilience to climate change. At the same time, growers and policymakers are asking a practical question: How can farms shift from conventional input-intensive management to regenerative systems while keeping productivity and profitability? Nutrient cycling sits at the center of this transition. Regenerative and agroecological practices—such as diversified rotations, cover crops, reduced tillage, integrated crop–livestock systems, compost and manure management, agroforestry, and improved grazing—aim to tighten nutrient loops and strengthen the ecosystem services that support crops (e.g., soil fertility, water retention, biological pest control). However, outcomes vary by context, and the transition phase can include yield risk, nutrient timing challenges, and short-term financial barriers. This Research Topic will bring together interdisciplinary work that clarifies which nutrient-cycling strategies reduce reliance on synthetic inputs, under what conditions, and how benefits and trade-offs evolve during the transition from conventional to regenerative farming. More specifically, this Research Topic aims to explore biophysical mechanisms, management strategies, and socio-economic pathways that enable improved nutrient cycling and reduced synthetic inputs during the transition to regenerative farming. We welcome cross-scale research that spans the plot, field, and landscape levels. We also welcome process-based analyses of farm performance, ecosystem service provision, and transition pathways that have a solid science base. Particular sub-themes of interest include: - Nutrient cycling during transition: How N, P, and C dynamics shift in the first 1–10 years moving from conventional to regenerative management. - Soil biology and nutrient availability: Roles of microbes, mycorrhizae, and soil food webs in mineralization/immobilization and plant-available nutrients. - Cover crops and green manures: Species choice (legumes vs mixtures), termination, and nutrient timing to cut synthetic N while limiting losses. - Diversified rotations, perennials, and diversification: Rotation complexity, intercropping, and perennial phases for tighter nutrient loops and yield stability. - Organic amendments and recycled nutrients: Compost, manure, digestate, biochar, and urban/industrial organic residuals—benefits, variability, pathogens/contaminants, and nutrient ratios. - Reduced tillage and soil structure: Effects on nutrient stratification, aggregation, erosion control, and the “weed–fertility” management trade space. - Integrated crop–livestock systems: Managed grazing, manure redistribution, and mixed systems to close nutrient cycles and reduce external inputs. - Nutrient losses and environmental trade-offs: Leaching, runoff, volatilization, and greenhouse gases (especially N₂O), including mitigation options. - Measurement, indicators, and modeling: Nutrient budgets, soil health metrics that predict nutrient supply, MRV approaches, and decision-support tools. - Farm viability and enabling conditions: Economics, labor/knowledge needs, risk management, extension/advisory support, and policy/market incentives for reducing synthetic inputs. - Microbial-mediated nutrient transformations (e.g., N fixation, P solubilization, and organic matter turnover) during the transition phase, - Interactions between microbial communities and management practices such as organic amendments, cover crops, reduced tillage, and crop diversification, and - Use of microbial indicators and functional traits as practical tools for assessing soil health and predicting nutrient availability under reduced synthetic input systems. The following article types are encouraged: - Original Research (field, lab, modeling, socio-economic) - Methods / Protocols (nutrient budgeting, indicators, MRV, LCA integration) - Review and Mini Review (synthesis of nutrient cycling strategies during transition) - Perspective / Policy and Practice Reviews (transition barriers and enablers) - Brief Research Report (high-value, well-designed pilot or on-farm trials) - Data Report (long-term datasets, open nutrient budgets, paired-farm monitoring) Topic editors: Dr. Anshul Kumar, SHRI MOHAN JAIN, Sabhya Pathania Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/78785/nutrient-cycling-for-regenerative-transitions-reducing-synthetic-inputs-through-agroecology-and-ecosystem-services