BIOCHAR FOR ENHANCING CROP PRODUCTIVITY AND SUSTAINING ACIDIC SOIL HEALTH.
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30%
43% ~
Source: www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/102/06/0882.pdf & www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/101/03/0271.pdf
1.27 billion
Declining factor productivity
Soil degradation due to intensive tillage practices
Decrease in soil organic carbon
Pest build up due to monotonous cropping systems
Shrinking farm productivity
Food security
• Yield reduction
• Micro nutrient deficiency
Principles and practices for soil management
R. Lal, Food Security journal, 2009
• Mulching and recycling organic residues
• improve soil structure and quality
• Water conservation and water use efficiency
• Adoption of diversified cropping systems, indigenous foods, GMO’s high in nutrients
• Agro-forestry and mixed farming
• Microbial processes to increase P- uptake
Solutions for soil and food quality
improvements
With adoption of proven management options, global soil resources are adequate
to meet food and nutritional needs of the present and future population
R. Lal, 2009; Okalebo et al., 2006
Soil Health
Soil Health is the change in Soil Quality over time due to human use and management or to natural events.
Descriptive terms for Soil Health
• Organic Matter - high
growth without degradation
BALANCED
primarily aims at cultivating the land and raising crops in
such a way, as to keep the soil alive and in good health by
use of organic wastes (crop, animal and farm wastes, aquatic
wastes) and other biological materials along with beneficial
microbes (bio-fertilizers) to release nutrients to crops for
increased sustainable production in an eco-friendly pollution
free environment.
Endorsed by IFOAM, September 2005
Ecological and
Organic agriculture is a production system that sustains the health
of soils, ecosystems and people.
It relies on ecological processes, biodiversity and cycles adapted
to local conditions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse
effects.
benefit the shared environment and promote fair relationships and
a good quality of life for all involved.
Definition of Organic Agriculture
mechanism
Market
Network
Methods Sources
b) Crop residues Leaf, stem, roots & stubbles left in soil
c) Poultry manure Poultry litter
d) Recycling weed biomass Farm weeds
2. Pre-digested /semi- digested manures
a) Farm yard manure - Preparation of FYM – using crop residues, farm wastes, weeds, agro-
industry wastes, cattle dung and urine etc.- Application of bio-gas
slurry
b) Composting Using garbage from rural and urban wastes
c) Other wastes Dung and urine of sheep, goat, pigs etc.
Soil Health/Nutrient Management: Methods and Sources
Soil Health/Nutrient Management: Methods and Sources
Methods Sources
b) N-containing vegetation BGA, Azolla
c) P- solubilizing microbes P- solubilizing fungi/bacteria
d) Vermiculture Vermi-composting, Use of earthworms in fields
e) N-fixing crops and trees Leguminous crops and trees
4. Cultural methods Crop rotation with pulses, Inter cropping with legumes, Minimum
tillage for nutrient conservation, Alley cropping, Mulching, Cover
crops, Strip cropping etc.
• Enhance soil chemical, physical and biological properties and prevent land degradation
• The crop residue available annually in India is approximately 692.58 MT
• 187.48 MT is available for incorporation from which total NPK available for crop is 7.951 MT
• Incorporation of rice and/or wheat residues showed beneficial effects on the yield of rice
Estimate of crop residue production in NE India (2009-10)
Weed species Nutrient content (%)
Eupatorium odoratum 3.42 0.16 0.97
Eichhornia crassipes 2.94 0.94 0.16
Ipomea sp 2.12 0.45 0.46
Ambrossia artimisifolia 3.14 0.17 0.82
Lantana camara 2.48 0.11 1.33
Mikania micrantha 2.98 0.22 1.79
Azolla caroliniana 2.32 0.59 2.82
Nutrient contents (%) of some common weed species with potential as compost substrates
Production of weed biomass in north east (5-20 t/ha)
For more effective management and disposal of the crop
residues, their conversion into biochar through thermo-
chemical process (slow pyrolysis) is gaining importance
as a novel and economically alternative way of managing
unusable and excess crop residues.
Biochar:
It is a stable form of charcoal produced from heating natural organic materials (crop and other waste, woodchips, manure) in a high temperature, low oxygen condition- process known as pyrolysis
Concept diagram of low-temperature pyroysis bio-
energy with bio-char sequestration
Biochar production unit at ICAR RC for NEH Region, Umiam
Feeding 300-400 kg biomass per hr
Start producing biochar after 15 minutes of feeding biomass
Plant height, number of fruits/plant, fruit size and fruit yield of tomato
was higher with the application of Biochar (4 t/ha) + 100% RDF +
Vermicompost (2.5 t/ha) and improvement in soil pH was observed.
Application technique
Vermicompost
~ Contain a high percentage of humus
~ Biologically active containing thousands of bacteria, and enzymes
~ 5 times the available nitrogen, 7 times the available potash, and 1 ½ times more calcium than found in good top soil
Can consume half it’s weight of food per day
Requires 70% moisture
Aeration – Good
Biogas slurry is
very good source
of nutrients. Loss
of N through
Ammonia or
nitrate is
minimum in
biogas slurry
• Edible oil cakes which can be safely fed to livestock are: Groundnut cake, Coconut cake
etc.,
• Non edible oil cakes which are not fit for feeding livestock; e.g.: Castor cake, Neem cake,
Mahua cake etc.,
• Both edible and non-edible oil cakes can be used as manures especially for horticultural
crops.
Average nutrient content of important oil cakes
N (%) P2O5 (%) K2O (%)
Cottonseed cake un-decorticated 3.9 1.8 1.6
Neem cake 5.2 1.0 1.4
Karanj cake 3.9 0.9 1.2
Safflower cake un-decorticated 4.9 1.4 1.2
Groundnut cake 7.3 1.5 1.3
Linseed cake 4.9 1.4 1.3
Green manure crops
Nodule extract of Azorhizobium caulinodans
sprayed 4 days after seedling emergence
Nodulation occurred 15 days after inoculation
Crops grown for 30 days
Incorporation in main fieldield
•Azotobacter/Azospirillum for non-legume crops.
•Acetobacter for sugarcane only.
For Phosphorus •PSB/Phosphatika
Benefits from bio-fertilizers
•Replace chemical nitrogen and phosphorus by 25%.
•Supplement to fertilizers.
• Stimulate plant growth.
•Reduces the costs towards fertilizers use, especially regarding nitrogen and
phosphorus.
Seed treatment
200 g of nitrogenous bio-fertilizer and 200 g of Phosphotika are suspended in 300-400 ml of
water and mixed thoroughly. Ten kg seeds are treated with this paste and dried in shade.
The treated seeds have to be sown as soon as possible.
Soil treatment
2-4 kg each of the recommended bio-fertilizers are mixed in 200 kg of compost and kept
overnight. This mixture is incorporated in the soil at the time of sowing or planting.
Seedling root dip
For rice crop, a bed is made in the field and filled with water. Recommended bio-fertilizers
are mixed in this water and the roots of seedlings are dipped for 8-10 hrs.
Contribution of different bio-fertilizers in crop production
Sl. Biofertilizer Nutrient Fixation % yield
increase
Crop
2. Azotobactor 20-30 kg N/ha 5-20% Cereals,oilseeds,vegetables
3. Acetobactor 10-25 kg N/ha 10% sugarcane
4. Azospirillum 10-20 kg N/ha 5-20% Cereal crops
5. BlueGreenAlgae (BGA) 10-40 kg N/ha 5-20% rice
6. Azolla 20-30 kg N/ha 25-30% rice
Contribution of different bio-fertilizers in crop
production
application of Azotobacter
18 kg N/ha
Cost of 46 kg N Rs. 520
Cost of 18 Kg N Rs 203.48
Benefit Rs.203.48- Rs 50 = Rs.153.48
Cost Benefit Ratio 1: 7.10
Cost Benefit Ratio of Azotobacter Biofertilizer
Cost benefit ratio of Rhizobium
Rate of biofertilizer application 0.5 kg/ha
Cost of biofertilizer Rs. 50/ha
Saving of N fertilizer due to application of
biofertilizer
Cost of 46 kg N Rs. 520
Cost of 18 Kg N Rs 256
Benefit Rs.256- Rs 50 = Rs.206
Cost Benefit Ratio 1: 8.01
Azolla
Panchagavya
ingredients
have miraculous effects
Possess almost all the major & micro nutrients & growth hormones (IAA &
GA) required for crop growth
LIQUID FORMULATIONS
Predominance of fermentative microorganisms like yeast and lactobacillus
might be due to the combined effect of low pH, milk products and addition of
jaggery/sugarcane juice as substrate for their growth
Low pH of the medium: due to the production of organic acids
by the fermentative microbes (GC analysis)
Lactobacillus produces various beneficial metabolites such as
organic acids, H2O2 and antibiotics, which are effective against
pathogenic microorganisms
TNAU Agritech portal, Organic farming
Mix cow dung & cow ghee thoroughly in morning and evening hours
and keep it for 3 days
Mix cow urine and water, keep it for 15 days with regular mixing both
in morning and evening hours.
After 15 days, mix cow milk, cow curd, coconut, jaggery and banana
Panchagavya will be ready after 30 days
1. Cow dung - 7 kg
2. Cow ghee - 1 kg
3. Cow Urine - 10 L
4. Cow milk - 3 L
5. Cow curd - 2 L
6. Tender coconut water - 3 L
7. Jaggery - 3 kg
9. Water -10 L
Raw Panchagavya: 40 L
Requirement: 1.5 L/bigha
Application rate: 3 %
ANALYSIS OF PANCHAGAVYA
Application
cloth
• 3 % solution , most effective
flow irrigation
Seed / seedling treatment/Seed Storage
• 3% solution used to treat the seed/seedling before sowing or transplanting
for 20 minutes
• Rhizome of turmeric or zinger, banana sucker, potato tuber & sugarcane
cuttings can be treated for 30 minutes before sowing
• Seed storage: 3% of Panchagavya solution can be used to dip the seeds
before drying & storing them
shortage of chemical fertilizers.
the local conditions, their economic feasibility and easy
implementation.
reducing the cost of cultivation.