[Terrapreta] Terrapreta Digest, Vol 16, Issue 25

[Kevin Chisholm]

Dear Nikolaus

Wow!! This is a neat proposed system indeed! However, it very much 
points out the complexity involved in "doing things right." 
Additionally, it points out the need to know "what else was done?"

Actually, to sort out the benefit of char additions, one would need 4 
test plots:
1: Control
2: Control + Char
3: Control + "All that other Good Stuff"
4: Control + "All that other Good Stuff" + Char

Given that "All that other good stuff" is necessary for the charcoal to 
be shown in its best light, we would be doing a serious disfavour to 
biochar additions to the soil, if all we add is charcoal.

We must be very careful to structure tests properly, and also, we must 
be very careful about comparing the benefits seen from char additions in 
different tests. For example, comparing 1: and 2: might suggest "Char 
improves yield by 10%, but comparing 3: and 4: might give a 30% 
incremental yield with charcoal.

Best wishes,

Kevin



Nikolaus Foidl wrote:
> Dear Kevin!
>
> In industrial sized agriculture you would use a 10 m3 tank hauled in the
> back of the seeding machine, pumping a slurry of fine milled charcoal,
> mycorrhizae infected soil and diluted melassa together with your favorite
> mix of fungi and bacteria and apply it as a side dressing or a broad band-
> below seed-dressing.
>
> As you repeat the same every year 2 times your field little by little will
> have the required charcoal concentration everywhere.
>
> The mix as well should contain some high protein containing sludge (hammer
> milled leaves from alfa alfa or Moringa) to rise nitrogen and organic matter
> content below or around the roots zone. If you apply it this way the total
> mass applied below the root zone is less then a factor 35 compared with
> whole field application and rotavation. As well the energy need is much
> lower and its done in the planting operation.
>
> In the moment i am buying a seeding machine with a 500 gallon fertilizer
> tank and will mount a slurry pump to the tank to feed my plants through the
> fertilizing slot.
>
> Best regards Nikolaus
>
>
>
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