[Terrapreta] Manioc peel and charcoal: a potential organic amendment for sustainable soil fertility in the tropics

[Michael Bailes]

Yet another study that says charcoal and organic matter is good for soils,
good for plant production and worms like it too!
(Is charcoal an aphrodisiac for worms? :))

Of interest was the claim that charcoal stopped possible toxic effects of
too much aluminum in the soil

Manioc peel and charcoal: a potential organic amendment for sustainable soil
> fertility in the tropics
>
> Stéphanie Topoliantz1, Jean-François Ponge1 [image: Contact Information]<http://www.springerlink.com/content/m21ndrnm09nd1ep4/#ContactOfAuthor2>and Sylvain Ballof
> 2
> (1) Museum National d[image: rsquo]Histoire Naturelle, CNRS UMR 5176, 4
> avenue du Petit-Chaâteau, 91800 Brunoy, France(2) Office National des
> Forêts, BP 9, 97370 Maripasoula, French Guiana
>
> *Received: *31 March 2004  *Revised: *29 September 2004  *Accepted: *
> 5 October 2004  *Published online: *23 November 2004
> Abstract  In tropical areas, where crop production is limited by low soil
> quality, the development of techniques improving soil fertility without
> damage to the environment is a priority. In French Guiana, we used
> subsistence farmer plots on poor acidic soils to test the effect of
> different organic amendments, bitter manioc peel (M), sawdust (Sw) and
> charcoal (Ch), on soil nutrient content, earthworm abundance and yard-long
> bean (*Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis*) production. The peregrine *Pontoscolex
> corethrurus* was the only earthworm species found. Pod production and
> plant growth were lowest in unamended soil. The application of a mixture
> of manioc peel and charcoal (M + Ch) improved legume production compared
> with other organic mixtures. It combined the favourable effects of manioc
> peel and charcoal. Manioc peel improved soil fertility through its low C:N
> ratio and its high P content, while charcoal decreased soil acidity and
> exchangeable Al and increased Ca and Mg availability, thus alleviating the
> possible toxic effects of Al on plant growth. The M + Ch treatment was
> favourable to *P. corethrurus*, the juvenile population of which reached a
> size comparable to that of the nearby uncultivated soil. The application of
> a mixture of manioc peel and charcoal, by improving crop production and soil
> fertility and enhancing earthworm activity, could be a potentially efficient
> organic manure for legume production in tropical areas where manioc is
> cultivated under slash-and-burn shifting agriculture.
>

http://www.springerlink.com/content/m21ndrnm09nd1ep4/


-- 
m
"May those who love us, love us;
and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts;
and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know
them by their limping."
-Irish Blessing
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