[Terrapreta] Re Charcoal and-----Bokashi

[Tom Miles]

Christoph,

 

Which is the best of your many collaborative publications to answer Dr.
Karve’s questions about the mechanism of terra preta in making inorganic
nutrients available to plants?

 

I have linked many publications on the Terra Preta website. The most recent
is:

Long
<http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/publ/PlantSoil,%20online,%202007
,%20Steiner.pdf>  term Effects of manure, charcoal and mineral fertilization
on crop production and fertility on a highly weathered Central Amazonian
upland soil Plant Soil January 2007
Christoph Steiner · Wenceslau G. Teixeira · Johannes Lehmann ·Thomas Nehls ·
Jeferson Luis Vasconcelos de Macêdo · Winfried E. H. Blum · Wolfgang Zech

http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/publ/PlantSoil,%20online,%202007,
%20Steiner.pdf

 

 

Tom Miles

http://terrapreta.bioenergylists.org 

 

 

From: terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org
[mailto:terrapreta-bounces at bioenergylists.org] On Behalf Of adkarve
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 2:24 AM
To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org
Subject: Re: [Terrapreta] Re Charcoal and-----Bokashi

 

Dear readers of terrapreta list,

I had already written about my hunch, that the micro-organisms in the soil
disintegrated soil minerals into their component ions, because these mineral
ions were needed by the soil micro-organisms themselves for their own
metabolism. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any author verifying
the phenomenon that the soil micro-organisms actually disintegrated soil
minerals. The fact that grasses accumulate silica is only indirect evidence.
Silica or SiO2 is highly insoluble in water. Therefore the plants must be
taking up silicate ions. Most soil minerals are in the form of silicate.
This indicates that somebody must be converting the generally non-soluble
minerals into water soluble ions, and that somebody can only be the soil
micro-organisms. 

There are large areas in India, where farmers grow crops without irrigation.
They apply neither chemical fertilizers nor organic manures. Not applying
fertilizers or manures is their way of reducing the risk of total loss, if
monsoon rains were to fail. The most common rainfed crops in our area are
sorghum and safflower (Carthamus tinctorius). The water of guttation of both
the crops contains sugar. That means, even when the farmers do not apply
organic matter to the soil, the plants themselves feed the micro-organisms
below their canopy with sugar. The yield from such fields is fairly high, if
the rainfall is adequate. Analysis of these soils generally shows
deficiencies of N and P, but that does not seem to affect the yield.

It is generally accepted by the science establishment that soil
micro-organisms have a symbiotic relationship with green plants, in which
the micro-organisms get organic matter from green plants and the green
plants in turn get the mineral nutrients required by them through the
activity of the soil micro-organisms. However the source of mineral ions is
always considered to be humus and other organic matter and not the soil
minerals. Literally thousands of farmers in this state practice a form of
organic farming in which they apply 25 kg sugar, 25 kg cow dung and 25 kg
cow urine to a hectare, once every three months. They get higher yield from
their crops than their neighbours who apply chemical fertilizers to their
fields. Analysis of the soil in the organic fields invariably shows
deficiency of N and P, in spite of which the crop yield is high. Two of my
students interviewed these farmers and they verified these facts.

My explanation of this phenomenon is that the soil analysis only catches the
water soluble components of the soil and not the minerals. In the organic
fields, the farmers do not apply the recommended dose of manure (20 to 50
tonnes per hectare, which is calculated on the basis of the N,P and K
content of the manure), but small quantities of high calorie organic matter
to feed the microbes, which convert the insoluble minerals in the soil into
soluble ions. This is what must be happening in nature, where plants grow
luxuriously without any chemical fertilizers.

We are facing an energy crunch. If we can use agricultural waste biomass as
a source of energy instead of using it as manure, we can make a lot of
energy available to satisfy the energy needs of the people. Making compost
is a wrong practice, because composted organic matter has no nutritional
value for the microbes in the soil. In fact, the dose of compost recommended
by traditional agronomists for application to a hectare, requires biomass
produced in ten hectares. Such practices make organic farming impracticable.


I would like to know if somebody has established the fact that the soil
microbes actually disintegrate soil minerals in order to feed themselves and
also to feed the green plants. The only reference that I have so far
unearthed is that in the case of lichens growing on rocks, the rock
underneath the lichen shows signs of dissolution. The degree of dissolution
is much greater in the case of limestone but even silicious rocks show this
phenomenon. 

Yours

A.D.Karve

----- Original Message ----- 

From: bakaryjatta <mailto:bakaryj at gamtel.gm>  

To: terrapreta at bioenergylists.org 

Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2007 4:06 AM

Subject: [Terrapreta] Re Charcoal and-----Bokashi

 

To Kurt and list members,

 

There was an extensive post to the gasification list on Mon,10 April 2006 by
Roger Samson of REAP-Canada with a great deal of details about Bokashi and
its preparation. A manual is available from REAP- canada is available on
request. One of the ingredients of Bokashi is bio-char. 

 

I am applying char dust to soil at planting stations, covering it with leaf
and/or grass mulch and giving it a dose of of effluent from Dr AD Karve's
model biogas digester. There is not enough material to cover an entire area,
therefore improve soil peace meal. The char is made from the trimmings of
Gliricidia and Cashew trees in an old water heater used as a retort. 

 

Hopefully this makes it to the list as I am unfamiliar with posting
procedures.

 

Bakary Jatta, experimenting in The  Gambia

 

 

 

Kurt wrote:


Hi folkes,

Somewhere in the bioenergy archives, not sure which particular list, I 
remember seeing a description of Bokashi preparation, using local 
wormcastings, plantjuice (for enzymes) etc etc. This was being done in 
SE Asia, probably the Philippines. The resultant material was then used 
to inoculate compost which was applied to the soil; as per usual.

The method used the ubiquitous Asian rice husk, but I think it could be 
adapted to any other area, using whatever waste biomass was available 
there and also using local wormcasts, plant juice and so on. Sugar, 
possibly molasses also figured in the method, to feed the culture.

Such a "local" Bokashi solution could be applied to charcoal just prior 
to application to the soil, giving it an initial charge of wee beasties 
to speed up the results.

/ /I doubt that Bokashi powder being sold for use in garbage digesters 
would be quite up to the job, being a centrally produced, industrial 
product and not at all adapted to any one soil situation.

It would be interesting if someone, more versed in searching the 
archives could dig the message out of them. I'm not at all knowledgeable 
in that activity.

Kurt

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