Aqueous Solutions for SEA

Video from their FaceBook page (https://www.facebook.com/AqueousSolutions/)

Important biochar thesis from Nepal, Co/ Norway

I highly recommend reading at least the 4-page Summary to Naba's thesis. Its well written and findings look very important for Nepal and tropical agriculture in general.
You can link to the full document with a click on the cover page image below...

Ithaka newsletter: Biochar Journal articles

Dear Friends of Ithaka,
The prospects of climate change are so increasingly dire that there are times when it may seem inappropriate to celebrate a promising scientific advance or any other good news. Good news, however, is exactly what humanity needs at moments like this. And to produce good news, it helps to share them and to create examples that others might replicate.
One such bright spot in the dark is the inclusion of biochar and pyrogenic carbon capture & storage (PyCCS) into the recent IPCC special report. It took more than ten years of global biochar science, technology development and practice before it finally appeared serious and convincing enough to the world’s leading climate scientists to mention biochar-based carbon sequestration as a technology to consider. It may take another five years until policy makers discover and discuss this most promising solution to keep global warming in a range that may still sustain civilization in all regions where human culture prospered during the last millennia. Five more years for us to prepare the groundwork with sophisticated technology, understanding of mechanisms, sustainable certification, and valuable biochar based products. See linked below our extended comments and the decisive, biochar related passages from the new IPCC special report.
At Ithaka we have been hard at work on various other positive developments which we hope will provide inspiring examples such as the forest gardens with organic biochar-based fertilization that we set-up in Nepal. A local journalist, Abhaya Raj Joshi, recently visited one of the villages where more than 50,000 trees were planted and have been linked to a global carbon subscription model since 2015. He interviewed villagers on how the new climate farming methods have changed their lives and the village.
And last but not least, Kathleen’s new, updated white paper on using biochar in coffee production with lots of new success stories about using biochar in coffee production and processing from three different continents. Thanks to funding received by the Biochar for Sustainable Soils project, you can enjoy the complete white paper with open access.
The Ithaka team will be traveling to Cuba, India, China and the UN climate conference in Poland over the next months to continue with education, research, collaboration and in-field biochar initiatives. As always, we will share with you what we learn and what we believe may be of service to others. We always appreciate hearing about successes and lessons learned by others working collaboratively on biochar projects around the globe, please feel invited to share these with us.
Yours Hans-Peter and Kathleen

Biochar and PyCCS included as negative emission technology by the IPCC

by Hans-Peter Schmidt

Biochar was included for the first time as a promising negative emission technology (NET) in the new IPCC special report. While the special report’s overall message was alarming, the inclusion of biochar is an important milestone for mitigating climate change and fostering research on pyrogenic carbon. We provide here a short summary on pyrogenic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS) and relevant excerpts from the new IPCC special report with regards to PyCCS and biochar.
... mehr

Carbon sequestration to rejuvenate land, water and economy in Nepal

by Abhaya Raj Joshi

Three years after the first 10,000 forest garden trees were planted in a Nepali mountain village and were linked to a new type of private carbon trading scheme, the village received the visit of a young journalist from a national newspaper. His particular insights into the Nepali way of life and policy, make his report about this acclaimed pilot project combining organic biochar based fertilization, mixed tree garden plantation, water retenition, soil conservation, and crop value chain creation a passionate critic.
... mehr

Pyrogenic carbon capture and storage

In this review, we show that pyrolytic carbon capture and storage (PyCCS) can aspire for carbon sequestration efficiencies of >70%, which is shown to be an important threshold to allow PyCCS to become a relevant negative emission technology. Prolonged residence times of pyrogenic carbon can be generated (a) within the terrestrial biosphere including the agricultural use of biochar; (b) within advanced bio‐based materials as long as they are not oxidized (biochar, bio‐oil); and (c) within suitable geological deposits (bio‐oil and CO2 from permanent pyrogas oxidation).
... mehr

Biochar & Coffee White Paper

by Kathleen Draper

An increasing number of coffee growers use biochar to improve soil fertility and resiliency, reduce dependence on fertilizers, achieve better survival rates for young plants, increase disease resistance and optimize residue management. New peer reviewed information on how biochar can help mitigate coffee rust (roya) and other diseases is presented in addition to benefits related to soil fertility, composting, effluent filtration, renewable energy production, residue management and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across the entire coffee supply chain. ... mehr (<

Biochar and maize study in Nepal

Biochar improves maize growth by alleviation of nutrient stress in a moderately acidic low-input Nepalese soil

• Naba Raj Pandit^{a, b, c},
• Jan Mulder^b,
• Sarah Elizabeth Hale^a,
• Vegard Martinsen^b,
• Hans Peter Schmidt^d,
• Gerard Cornelissen^{a, b, ,}

 Show more

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.022

Get rights and content

Under a Creative Commons license

  Open Access

---

Highlights

•

Soil limitations (moisture, nutrients, acidity) were manipulated one by one to find out why biochar improved crop growth.

•

Biochar addition increased soil pH, plant available P, K and soil moisture retention in this weathered Nepalese soil.

•

The biochar effect on plant growth was mainly due to alleviation of nutrient stress.

---

Abstract

We studied the role of biochar in improving soil fertility for maize production. The effects of biochar on the alleviation of three potential physical-chemical soil limitations for maize growth were investigated, i.e. water stress, nutrient stress and acid stress. Experiments involved soils with two dosages of biochar (0.5% and 2% w:w), as well as ones without biochar, in combination with four different dosages of NPK fertilizer, water and lime. Biochar was produced from the invasive shrubby weed Eupatorium adenophorum using flame curtain kilns. This is the first study to alleviate one by one the water stress, nutrient stress and acid stress in order to investigate the mechanisms of biochar effects on soil fertility.

Biochar addition increased soil moisture, potassium (K) and plant available phosphorous (P-AL), which all showed significant positive relationship (p < 0.001) with above ground biomass of maize. However, biochar was much more effective at abundant soil watering (+ 311% biomass) than at water-starved conditions (+ 67% biomass), indicating that biochar did increase soil moisture, but that this was not the main reason for the positive biomass growth effects. Biochar addition did have a stronger effect under nutrient-stressed conditions (+ 363%) than under abundant nutrient application (+ 132%). Biochar amendment increased soil pH, but liming and pH had no effect on maize dry biomass, so acidity stress alleviation was not the mechanism of biochar effects on soil fertility.

In conclusion, the alleviation of nutrient stress was the probably the main factor contributing to the increased maize biomass production upon biochar addition to this moderately acidic Inceptisol.

The amazing news from Nepal keeps coming...

More stunning stuff from Hans-Peter and the team working in Nepal...
"We recently published a new paper about using field made biochar as nutrient carrier achieving average yield increases of 100% with concentrated root zone application of only 1 t biochar per ha. Demonstrating the new method in 21 field trials with 13 different crops seems quite consistent and we hope to trigger new experiments and farmer adaptations  in what might become a breakthrough in agronomic biochar use. I attach the paper wishing you an inspiring read, 

Yours, Hans-Peter"

BIOCHAR-BASED FERTILIZATION WITH LIQUID NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT: 21 FIELD TRIALS COVERING 13 CROP SPECIES IN NEPAL

Hans-Peter Schmidt 1 * , Bishnu Hari Pandit 2 , Gerard Cornelissen 3,4, Claudia I. Kammann 5
1 Ithaka Institute for Carbon Strategies, Rue de l’Ancienne Eglise 9, CH-1974 Arbaz, Switzerland 
2 Ithaka Institute for Climate Farming (IICF), Ratanpur, 33900 Tanahu, Nepal 
3 Institute for Environmental Sciences (IMV), University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Akershus, As 1432, Norway 
4 Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI), 0806 Oslo, Norway 
5 WG Climate Change Research for Special Crops, Department of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, Hochschule Geisenheim University, Von-Lade-Str. 1, Geisenheim D-65366, Germany 
Received 27 January 2017; Revised 15 May 2017; Accepted 29 June 2017 

ABSTRACT 

"Biochar produced in cost-efficient flame curtain kilns (Kon-Tiki) was nutrient enriched either with cow urine or with dissolved mineral (NPK) fertilizer to produce biochar-based fertilizers containing between 60–100 kg N, 5–60 kg P2O5 and 60–100 kg K2O, respectively, per ton of biochar. In 21 field trials, nutrient-enriched biochars were applied at rates of 0·5–2 t ha 1 into the root zone of 13 different crops. Treatments combining biochar, compost and organic or chemical fertilizer were evaluated; control treatments contained same amounts of nutrients but without biochar. All nutrient-enriched biochar substrates improved yields compared with their respective nobiochar controls. Biochar enriched with dissolved NPK produced on average 20% ± 5·1% (N = 4 trials) higher yields than standard NPK fertilization without biochar. Cow urine-enriched biochar blended with compost resulted on average in 123% ± 76·7% (N = 13 trials) higher yields compared with the organic farmer practice with cow urine-blended compost and outcompeted NPK-enriched biochar (same nutrient dose) by 103% ± 12·4% (N = 4 trials) respectively. Thus, the results of 21 field trials robustly revealed that low-dosage root zone application of organic biochar-based fertilizers caused substantial yield increases in rather fertile silt loam soils compared with traditional organic fertilization and to mineral NPK or NPK-biochar fertilization. This can be explained by the nutrient carrier effect of biochar, causing a slow nutrient release behaviour, more balanced nutrient fluxes and reduced nutrient losses, especially when liquid organic nutrients are used for the biochar enrichment. The results open up new pathways for optimizing organic farming and improving on-farm nutrient cycling."

More exciting results from biochar use in Nepal

Biochar-Based Fertilization with Liquid Nutrient Enrichment: 21 Field Trials Covering 13 Crop Species in Nepal

Authors

• 
  

  
  

• 
  

• 
  

• 
  

• Accepted manuscript online: 13 July 2017Full publication history
• DOI: 10.1002/ldr.2761  View/save citation
• Cited by (CrossRef): 0 articlesCheck for updates

• This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1002/ldr.2761

Abstract

Biochar produced in cost-efficient flame curtain kilns (Kon-Tiki) was nutrient enriched either with cow urine or with dissolved mineral (NPK) fertilizer to produce biochar-based fertilizers containing between 60-100 kg N, 5-60 kg P2O5 and 60-100 kg K2O, respectively, per ton of biochar. In 21 field trials nutrient-enriched biochars were applied at rates of 0.5-2 t ha-1 into the root zone of 13 different crops. Treatments combining biochar, compost and organic or chemical fertilizer were evaluated; control treatments contained same amounts of nutrients but without biochar. All nutrient-enriched biochar substrates improved yields compared to their respective no-biochar controls. Biochar enriched with dissolved NPK produced on average 20% ± 5.1% (N=4 trials) higher yields than standard NPK fertilization without biochar. Cow urine-enriched biochar blended with compost resulted on average in 123% ± 76.7% (N=13 trials) higher yields compared to the organic farmer practice with cow urine-blended compost and outcompeted NPK-enriched biochar (same nutrient dose) by 103% ± 12.4% (N=4 trials), respectively. Thus, the results of 21 field trials robustly revealed that low-dosage root zone application of organic biochar-based fertilizers caused substantial yield increases in rather fertile silt loam soils compared to traditional organic fertilization and to mineral NPK- or NPK-biochar fertilization. This can be explained by the nutrient carrier effect of biochar, causing a slow nutrient release behavior, more balanced nutrient fluxes, and reduced nutrient losses, especially when liquid organic nutrients are used for the biochar enrichment. The results open up new pathways for optimizing organic farming and improving on-farm nutrient cycling.

Award for Hans-Peter Schmidt's work in Nepal

---

Biochar project wins best International Development Project

21.04.2017

An NDF project testing biochar’s potential as fertiliser in Nepal was commended in April 2017 with an award for best International Development Project.

The award was given to Landell Mills for best International Development Project by British Expertise International. Landell Mills is a UK-based international development consulting firm. The project was an Asian Development Bank-administered and NDF-funded project in Nepal titled Mainstreaming Climate Change Risk Management in Development. Landell Mills was the technical assistance service provider.
The project assessed the viability for scale-up of biochar use as a strategy for addressing climate mitigation and adaptation by improving soil health, fertility and plant productivity, and resulting farm income. Biochar is charcoal fertiliser made from various kinds of waste biomass. It represents an inexpensive way to increase crop yields and holds significant environmental benefits including reduced loss of nutrients and greenhouse gas emissions.
The project was highly successful as it provided evidence from numerous field trials that urine-enriched biochar can, in three different climate zones, improve crop yields in a climate-friendly manner. Some trials showed yield increases of up to 300%.
The most appropriate technology for biochar production at the farm level in Nepal is the soil pit Kon-Tiki flame curtain kiln. Benefits include high-quality biochar production, low emissions, no need for start-up fuel, short pyrolysis time and, importantly, easy and cheap construction and operation, with no initial capital investment except labour. The technology is thus affordable for small-scale farmers in Nepal. The project showed strong scaling-up potential and included numerous lessons learnt that are valuable for all future biochar projects.
NDF congratulates Landell Mills as well as everyone involved in realising the project.

Climate farming connecting local action and global comprehension ...

Climate farming connecting local action and global comprehension in the face of climate change

Hans-Peter Schmidt, Ithaka Institute, presents on communication strategies for FAO during their recent webinar series: Mitigation of Climate Change in Agriculture (MICCA) Programme

This is based on their success with biochar implementation in Nepal. 

Nepal, biochar, pumpkins x4

The "Nepal" label will provide more history on this research...

Fourfold Increase in Pumpkin Yield in Response to Low-Dosage Root Zone Application of Urine-Enhanced Biochar to a Fertile Tropical Soil

Abstract

A widely abundant and invasive forest shrub, Eupatorium adenophorum, was pyrolyzed in a cost-efficient flame curtain kiln to produce biochar. The resulting biochar fulfilled all the requirements for premium quality, according to the European Biochar Certificate. The biochar was either applied alone or mixed with fresh cow urine (1:1 volume) to test its capacity to serve as slow release fertilizer in a pumpkin field trial in Nepal. Treatments included cow-manure compost combined with (i) urine-only; (ii) biochar-only or (iii) urine-loaded biochar. All materials were applied directly to the root zone at a biochar dry matter content of 750 kg·ha⁻¹ before seeding. The urine-biochar treatment led to a pumpkin yield of 82.6 t·ha⁻¹, an increase of more than 300% compared with the treatment where only urine was applied, and an 85% increase compared with the biochar-only treatment. This study showed for the first time that a low-dosage root zone application of urine-enhanced biochar led to substantial yield increases in a fertile silt loam soil. This was tentatively explained by the formation of organic coating of inner pore biochar surfaces by the urine impregnation, which improved the capacity of the biochar to capture and exchange plant nutrients.

 

Ithaka Climate Farming Odyssey to Nepal

Travel & Workshop in Nepal

Ithaka Climate Farming Odyssey to Nepal

The Ithaka Institute is pleased to announce that we are piloting our very first educational odyssey where travelers will not only experience the beauty and splendor of Nepal, but will learn how Nepali farmers are improving resiliency and creating new rural jobs through climate farming and biochar based agro-forestry.

Over an 8 day period, travelers will see parts of Nepal which are definitely off the beaten path. Though we will begin and end the journey in the capital of Kathmandu, we will travel to remote villages such as Nalang (Dhading) and Ratanpur (Tanahu) where Westerners are rarely seen. En route to Ratanpur we will visit the magnificent old-world charm of Bandipur, a mountaintop village 143 km West of Kathmandu. 

Thanks to restorative agricultural practices developed by Ithaka, a growing number of Nepali farmers are engaged in climate friendly farming and agroforestry and have achieved significant successes in improving yields while reducing costs.  Travelers will learn how farmers have thrived, despite an embargo on mineral fertilizers, by creating their own well balanced, organic fertilizers using biochar, livestock urine and bones.  They will learn how these slow release fertilizers are made and applied and may even try their hand at ploughing with water buffalo! Tours through agroforestry projects will highlight newly created best practices for tree planting and review the basics of carbon credits for such projects. Those that join this journey will also learn how essential oils are produced using a Kon-Tiki biochar kiln.

Through collaborative workshops and shared lunches with local farmers, travelers will have plenty of opportunities to exchange ideas on farming techniques, ask questions and share stories. Evenings will include local music, storytelling and dancing while tending fires and making biochar. Low key morning treks will provide time to admire beautiful views of the Himalayas while seeing terraced farming up-close.

This first foray into educational travel will have a limited number of spots (minimum of 8; maximum of 12 participants).  We are particularly interested in travelers with an adventurous spirit that are willing to interact with local farmers by exchanging their experiences and questions related to climate farming and who are interested in helping us shape itineraries for future Ithaka Odysseys! 

If you are interested in further information please contact Kathleen Draper.

Agro-Reforestation with Biochar

More great work in Nepal from Hans-Peter and the Ithaka Institue...

http://www.ithaka-institut.org/en/ct/121-Agro-Reforestation-with-Biochar