Biochar Improves Nitrogen Fertilizer Efficiency On a Amazonian Ferralsol

Transcription

1 Biochar Improves Nitrogen Fertilizer Efficiency On a Amazonian Ferralsol International Symposium July 2012 Vienna, Austria Christoph Steiner Bruno Glaser Wenceslau G. Teixeira Johannes Lehmann Wolfgang Zech Winfried E. H. Blum University of Bayreuth Austrian Academy of Science

2 Tropical Agriculture constrains Fast depletion of soil organic carbon and nutrients low ph and CEC Fertilizers inefficient, not available or too expensive Diseases, pests and weeds

3 Anthrosols Brazil Terra Preta

4 Terra Preta fertility

5 Terra Preta fertility Cash crop farming Irrigated horticulture lawn production C. Steiner, UN climate change conference 2007; Bali Indonesia,

6 Terra Preta charcoal

7 Recalcitrance JOHANNES LEHMANN, JOHN GAUNT, and MARCO RONDON Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change Lehmann 2006 et al. 2006

8 Charcoal production and residue use Sieving Production Application

9 Manmade soils Photos: Gilvan Martins, Embrapa, Brazil

10 Photos: Gilvan Martins, Embrapa, Brazil

11 Manmade soils cash crop gardens

12 Manmade soils cash crop gardens

13 Terra Preta creation?

14 Traditional Use US (1847) Elad et al. 2010, Phytopathology Charcoal absorbs and condenses the nutritive gases within its pores. Charcoal often checks rust in wheat, and mildew in other crops Ammoniacal liquor holds large quantities of nitrogen,.charcoal dust may be added,..the charcoal soon combine with the ammonia,..it is a powerful manure, Guano should be mixed with twice its bulk of charcoal dust Steiner et al. 2010, J. Environ. Qual. Danny Day and others Charcoal should be added to liquid manure to absorb the ammonia Poudrette is the name given to the human faeces after they have been mixed with charcoal dust.. A dressing of charcoal has in many instances, been found so beneficial that it has been extensively introduced in France for the wheat crop The turnep (Brassica rapa.) Charcoal dust applied in the same way has been found to increase the early growth from four to ten-fold.

15 Biochar Research Terra Preta Nova EMBRAPA research station Brazil

16 Research location Experimental station of EMPRAPA Amazonia Ocidental Ca. 30km north of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil (3 8 S, W; m a.s.l.) Humid tropical climate mm rainfall yr -1 - mean temperature 26 C - mean humidity 84%

17 Research soil characteristics (0-0.1m) FAO: Xanthic Ferralsol Zech et al. (1990) Terra Preta Ferralsol Clay ~75% N g kg -1 < 2 ph CEC [cmolc kg -1 ] 44 < 2 P [g kg -1 ] Ca [g kg -1 ] C [g kg -1 ]

18 Research setup Organic Matterials in February 2001: The amount of OM was calculated after the C content and was approximately the charcoal yield of a year old secondary forest (Uhl+Jordan 1984, Sanford 1985, Buschbacher 1988, Hölscher 1995) Increase C org by 25% in m Applied OM: Charcoal 11 t / ha Compost 67 t /ha First Mineral Fertilization (MF) in March 2001 : N (30), P (35), K (50), lime (2100)

19 Research results, second harvest sorghum Plants after 55 days NPK fertilizer & charcoal NPK fertilizer without charcoal

20 Research results, cumulative yield Second fertilization 15 N Steiner et al. (2008), Plant and Soil, n=5, means and SE

21 Research tracer application Second Fertilization: April 2002 N (55 kg ha -1 ), P (40), K (50), lime (430) 15 N isotope enrichment 15 N labelled (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4, 10 atom % 15 N excess. Mixed in a ratio 1:1 with conventional (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4

22 Research setup 1 Control 2 Litter 3 Burned litter 4 Mineral fertilizer (MF) 5 Chicken manure 6 Compost (CO) 7 Charcoal powder 8 CO + MF 9 Charcoal powder (CC) + MF 10 ½ Charcoal powder + ½ OS 11 ½ Charcoal powder + ½ CO + MF 12 Charcoal powder 25% + OS 12,5% 13 Charcoal powder + ½ CO + MF 14&15 Charcoal pieces 25% + OS 12,5%

23 Research results, total carbon Steiner et al. (2008), J Plant Nutr Soil Sci, n=5, means and SE

24 Research results, total nitrogen Steiner et al. (2008), J Plant Nutr Soil Sci, n=5, means and SE

25 Research results, increased N recovery Steiner et al. (2008), J Plant Nutr Soil Sci, n=5, means and SE

26 15N Recovery % Research results, increased N retention +CO +CC +½CO + ½CC +½CO +CC MF CO= Compost CC= Charcoal

27 Amazonia Slash and Char as Alternative to Slash and Burn ~50% of C remains as charcoal Photo: Steve Welch ~2% of C remains as charcoal C. Steiner, UN climate change conference 2007; Bali Indonesia,

28 The BC300 pyrolysis unit

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