Trials have shown that adding relatively small amounts of biochar to soil can significantly increase the amount of nutrients essential for crop growth, boosting crop yield.
Trials have shown that adding relatively small amounts of biochar to soil can significantly increase the amount of nutrients essential for crop growth, boosting crop yield.
The charcoal-like substance is produced when biomass – animal and plant matter such as manure, food waste or wood – is heated up at very high temperatures without oxygen. Biochar improves local soil properties around roots, allowing the crop to access more nutrients, and also increases soil carbon storage, so can help mitigate climate change.
Black Bull Biochar (BBB), Scotland's Rural College and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) are assessing its effectiveness and practicality as an additive to slurry on dairy farms in a project funded by the UK Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Unlike previous field trials that have spread a large amount of biochar on farmland, typically 10 tonnes or more per hectare, the new project has used just 0.5 tonnes per hectare, which would make it more practical to implement at scale within agriculture.
Read more at: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Photo Credit: sbj04769 via Pixabay
