[Terrapreta] Improving wheat production with deep banded Oil Mallee Charcoal in Australia.-research paper

[Michael Bailes]

paper for the International Agchar Initiative Conference Terrigal New South
Wales. April 29 - May 2, 2007
Improving wheat production with deep banded Oil Mallee Charcoal in
Western Australia
Paul Blackwell1, Syd Shea2, Paul Storer3, Zakaria Solaiman4, Mike Kerkmans5,
and Ian Stanley6
1Department of Agriculture and Food, Geraldton WA, 2 Oil Mallee Company of
Australia, 3Western Mineral
Fertilisers, 4University of Western Australia, School of Earth and
Geographical Sciences, 5Oil Mallee
Association of WA, 6 "Bungadale", Kalannie , WA
SUMMARY
• There can be benefits to wheat income from deep banded oil mallee charcoal
in the low
rainfall areas of WA; the trials on acid sandy clay loam and acid sand in
2005 showed up
to $96/ha additional gross income at wheat prices of $150/ha; especially
when applied
with mineral fertilisers and inoculated soil microbes. Much of the yield
improvement can
be explained by better grain survival, associated with reduced drought
stress.
• There were encouraging effects of charcoal on arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM)
colonisation.
Banded oil mallee charcoal improved AM colonisation of wheat roots by 3
fold, when
used with mineral fertilisers and AM is inoculated with the seed in the acid
sandy clay
loam with a low population of indigenous AM. Early phosphorus uptake was not
improved
by AM colonisation; P supply from the soil and applied fertiliser was
already adequate.
• AM colonisation in spring was related to effects of charcoal application
on grain survival
in inoculated mineral fertiliser treatments. This infers AM hyphae may have
improved
water supply to reduce drought stress and loss of grains in these
treatments.
• The true economic value of oil mallee charcoal will be clearer when the
cost of charcoal
production and application is better known and long term effects of
charcoal, especially
with inoculated AMs and mineral fertilisers is better understood. The
potential to
achieve a commercial return from the sequestration of charcoal as an offset
for carbon
dioxide emissions in broadscale agriculture will also help calculate true
economic value.
• More research is worthwhile on the long term effects of incorporated
charcoal in a range
of soil conditions and seasons, from various sources and how low the banded
charcoal
rate needs to be to encourage better yields from mineral fertiliser with
inoculated AM.

INTRODUCTION
Oil Mallees are the first native woody perennial species to be promoted as a
commercial crop
the complete article here
http://www.oilmallee.com.au/pdf/Improving_wheat_prod.pdf
-- 
Michael the Archangel
"Politicians will never solve The Problem;
because they don't realise they are The Problem.".
-Robert ( Bob ) Parsons 1995
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