Differential Impacts of Regenerative Agriculture Practices on Soil Organic Carbon: A Meta-Analysis of Studies from India

Differential Impacts of Regenerative Agriculture Practices on Soil Organic Carbon: A Meta-Analysis of Studies from India | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Differential Impacts of Regenerative Agriculture Practices on Soil Organic Carbon: A Meta-Analysis of Studies from India Mukund Patil, Cuba Perumal, Pushpajeet Choudhari, Rajesh Pasumarthi, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6792392/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Sep, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Regenerative agriculture (RA) is heralded as a transformative solution to combat climate change, enhance biodiversity, and improve soil health. However, its effectiveness across diverse agroclimatic contexts remains underexplored. This meta-analysis synthesizes results from 147 peer-reviewed studies across India's major agro-ecological and agro-climatic regions. Using a random-effects model, we estimate the soil organic carbon (SOC) change attributable to a suite of RA practices, including organic amendments (farmyard manure, green manure, compost, and biochar), conservation tillage, crop residue retention, and fertilizer management. Biochar application resulted in the highest SOC gain, followed by farmyard manure, green manure, compost, and fertilizer management. Conservation tillage and crop residue retention demonstrated moderate, yet consistent, carbon benefits across time scales. The SOC gains were most significant over durations exceeding five years and varied across agro-ecological regions, with semi-arid and sub-humid regions showing particularly strong responses. The findings affirm that RA practices effectively sequester carbon, particularly when applied over longer durations and in regionally adapted combinations. Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental sciences/Environmental impact Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Climate change mitigation Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences/Sustainability Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files PRISMA2020abstractchecklist.docx PRISMA2020checklist.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 29 Sep, 2025 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 01 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 27 Jun, 2025 Reviews received at journal 23 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 13 Jun, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 06 Jun, 2025 First submitted to journal 06 Jun, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6792392","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":473237271,"identity":"756180de-d448-45e8-b3e3-ed473309e51e","order_by":0,"name":"Mukund 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