Biochar for maize: Huge yield increase

There is often plenty of organic residues available in Ghana from field crops as well as from plantations of e.g. oil palms. Therefore, it seems feasible to start local production of biochar for improving soil fertility. While rather high amounts of biochar (20-30 t/ha) have to be added to the soil to see such large effect, the experiments show that it can be done by smaller yearly additions also to take advantage of the plant nutrients contained in the biochar. Especially in places where the energy from the pyrolysis gas can be utilized for electricity production, refining of palm oil etc. it might become a good business case. In such situations, it constitutes a triple-win situation, as carbon is long-term sequestered in the soil, thus reducing CO2 emissions.

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