soil fertility

Though public awareness is low, some scientists believe “biochar” is quietly becoming the world’s first major carbon removal success story. The waste coffee husks that come out of Synergie Nord Sud (SNS), Cameroon’s largest coffee-processing plant, are no longer left to gradually decompose in a landfill. Instead, these tons of biomass are now transported to […]

Abstract Biochar is a carbon-containing material prepared through thermal treatment of biomass in limited supply of oxygen, and used for an array of applications including waste management, climate change mitigation, soil fertility improvement, bio-energy production, and contaminant remediation. The data related to biochar, its production, and the wide applicability were collected using Web of Science […]

Abstract Biochars can improve soil health but have been widely shown to reduce plant-available nitrogen (N) owing to their high carbon (C) content, which stimulates microbial N-immobilization. However, because biochars contain large amounts of C that are not microbially available, their total elemental C:N ratio does not correspond well with impacts on soil N. We […]

Abstract Biochar has been considered as a potential way to enhance acidophilous plant growth in alkaline soils. However, whether such enhancements are closely linked with biochar pyrolysis temperature and its improvements in rhizospheric soil fertility and microbial activities remains largely unknown. We performed a pot experiment to investigate changes in azalea (Rhododendron) morphology and physiology, […]

Abstract Water washing is a meaningful method to improve the surface’ characteristic of hydrochar produced using hydrothermal carbonization and minimize the negative effect on crop growth. However, the greenhouse effect resulting from water-washed hydrochar application was unclear in agricultural ecosystems. Hence, the effect of water-washed hydrochar on methane and nitrous oxide emissions was analyzed in […]

Abstract Combined application of biochar with fertilizers has been used to increase soil fertility and crop yield. However, the coupling mechanisms through which biochar improves crop yield at field scale and the time span over which biochar affects carbon and nitrogen transformation and crop yield are still little known. In this study, a long-term field […]

Abstract Biochar is known for its effects on carbon sequestration and soil fertility. However, there is a lack of information about its effects on soil physical and hydraulic properties for tropical soils. We assessed the effects of biochar (BC) plus sugar cane filter cake (FC) rate, and time of interaction on soil physical and hydraulic […]

Abstract Sustainable solutions to the plethora of environmental issues facing us today require sound science as well as actionable technology that is affordable and equitable. Broader awareness of biochar systems emerged from insights of historical soil management of Amerindian populations who modified their soils to remain fertile for centuries, pointing at sustainable improvement of soil […]