Abstract:
The utilization of biochar as an amendment to
improve soil health and the environment has been a
catalyst for the recent global enthusiasm for advancing
biochar production technology and its management.
Biochar is simply carbon rich charcoal-like substance
which is created by heating biomass (organic matter) in
limited oxygen condition, through a process known as
pyrolysis. Locally available weed biomass which is not
economically important and caused crop loss can be
used as an important source of biomass for preparation
of biochar. Biochar is able to ameliorate soil acidity as
well as it is also able to increase the soil fertility. Biochar
reduces leaching of soil nutrients, increases soil
structure and pH, reduces dependency on artificial
fertilizers, enhances nutrient availability for plants,
increases water quality of runoff, reduces toxicity of
aluminum to plant roots and microbiota and thus
reducing the need for lime, reduces bioavailability of
heavy metals, thus works as bioremediation and
decreases N O and CH emissions from soils, thus 2 4
further reducing GHG emissions. Employment of
biochar as a specialized soil amendment provides a
practical approach to address the anticipated problems
in the agronomic and environmental sectors.
Incorporating huge quantity of biochar into soils
provides numerous agricultural benefits, which this
special paper examines. But, there is no concrete
compilation yet how to apply biochar at farm level. This
paper discusses on several factors related to biochar
that need to be considered for maximising the soil
DOI
EP R
S
P
2011
1Shaon Kumar Das*, 2Goutam Kumar Ghosh and 1R. K. Avasthe
1ICAR- National Organic farming Research Institute, Tadong, Gangtok, India-737102
2Palli-Siksha Bhavan, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, West Bengal, India-731236
*Corresponding author: shaon.iari@gmail.com
Received : Accepted :
amelioration and soil quality benefits from the use of
biochar.
