The Fundamentals of Biochar

Biochar is a valuable soil enhancer that can hold carbon, boost food security, increase soil biodiversity, and discourage deforestation. The process creates highly porous charcoal which helps soils retain nutrients and benefits farmers by increasing crop yields and their resilience towards climate change! Biochar is known as a soil amendment for increasing food security and cropland diversity in areas with severely depleted soils, scarce organic resources, and insufficient water.

Biochar is a natural way to improve the quality and quantity of water in the soil. It does this by increasing soil retention of nutrients, agrochemicals for plant and crop utilization, which means the nutrients where needed most on your plants remain in the soil instead of seeping into groundwater. According to the Biochar Malaysia Association, Biochar is produced through pyrolysis or gasification — processes that heat biomass in the absence (or under reduction) of oxygen. Biochar and bioenergy co-production can help combat global climate change by displacing fossil fuel use and by sequestering carbon in stable soil carbon pools. It may also reduce emissions of nitrous oxide.