Biochar’s popularity in agriculture and environment management has increased following  the discovery of the fertility of the Amazonian Dark Earths and today it plays a very important role in climate action.

To prepare it, heat is applied to crop waste like coffee husks, coconut husks, rice husks, groundnut husks, corn cobs, sugarcane peals under anoxic condition until they are charred. This charred material can be mixed with manure and even compost then applied to soils resulting in a slower release of soil nutrients for efficient plant uptake. The biochar-manure mixture also improves the capacity of soils to hold water and promotes a good habitat for beneficial soil microbes to thrive leading to an overall healthier soil for better plant growth.

This mixture is low-cost and can be prepared using easily available resources, crop waste that would otherwise have been thrown away as trash. So, this method also helps with organic waste management.