Biochar and Fertilization

Today’s news includes a report called Long-term Global Food Crisis Looms: Experts Urge Immediate Action, which implies that this year’s surge in grain prices is just the tip of the iceberg. They suggest we need a ‘Second Green Revolution’ to meet the needs of a growing global population:

Unlike the first Green Revolution, in which productivity growth was achieved with the introduction of modern varieties in tandem with assured irrigation and inputs (such as fertilizer), and guaranteed prices, the second Green Revolution needs to achieve the same goal in the face of several 21st-century challenges. These challenges include water and land scarcity, environmental degradation, skyrocketing input prices, and globalized marketplaces, all within the context of global climate change.

The article does not mention biochar, but isn’t it the ONLY potential solution that addresses all of the ‘challenges’ cited? Biochar helps hold moisture in the soil, reducing the amount of irrigation needed. It can be used to reclaim marginal or depleted soils, making more agricultural land available, while increasing crop yields so that there is less need for expanding acreage.

Biochar addresses two important sources of environmental degradation, by sequestering carbon-dioxide and by reducing water pollution. It helps reduce the leeching of nitrogen into groundwater, while reducing the need for fertilizers that are the source of that excess nitrogen.

The ’skyrocketing input prices’ are in a large part due to the use of petrochemical derived fertilizer. With biochar that usage can be reduced, and gradually eliminated by replacing the chemical fertilizers with organic ones. One of the factors holding back the adoption of organic means of fertilization are the high labor costs — but the increasing chemical fertilizer costs combined with the reduced need for frequent application on biochar enhanced soils, will help spark the conversion to sustainable organic methods of fertilization.

Competing in the global marketplace will require greater adaptability from farmers. Healthy, organically enriched and biochar enhanced soils give them more options for crop selection. The increased fertility of the soil will also help them adapt to the changing climate, while widespread use of biochar will reduce the intensity of those climatic changes.