terra preta, christoph steiner

8/10/2019 Terra Preta, Christoph Steiner

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Terra Preta

Prospectsfor Tropical

Agriculture

Christoph Steiner, R&D Director


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Tropical Agriculture constrains

Fast depletion of soil organic carbon and nutrients low pH and CEC Fertilizers inefficient, not available or too expensive Diseases, pests and weeds


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Photo: Ilse Ackermann

Anthrosols Brazil Terra Preta


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there could be seen verylarge cities that glistened inwhite [] many roads thatentered into the interior []and besides this, the land isas fertile [] as our Spain

Terra Preta History early descriptions


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C. Barrington Brown (1839-1917)

In two places also, in the forest, were the sites of ancient villages, marked by deep black soil mixed with broken pottery (Brown 1876:339) ;



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undoubtedly of artificial origin ...highly prized as agricultural grounds, owing to their fertility; andthey bear the name of Terras pretas

Terra Preta Fifteen Thousand Miles on the Amazon and itsTributaries, Charles Barrington Brown and William Lidstone, E.Stanford, 1878, 520 pages (http://books.google.com)

In this publication Brown and Lidstone were apparently the first to use the term terra preta (terras pretas ) in print.


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the spot, like that on many other elevationsbordering the Amazon and its branches, was the favourite dwelling-place of Indians in bygonedays;

Villages must have stood upon these spots forages, to have accumulated such a depth of soil

about them; and probably their original founderwere of a race that has now completely vanishe



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Terra Preta Friedrich Katzer (1861 1925)

.the region's more distinguished wealth lies inits soil.

Conducted pioneering analytical work

Concluded that the Terra Preta has different originfrom Chernozems and were cultural in origin

Terra Preta consists of a blending of mineral

residuum, charred plant materials, anddecomposed organics.

loss-on-ignition testing indicating high organicmatter content, in contrast to soils fromsurrounding locations.


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Charcoal, BC, Chernozem and Terra Preta


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Anthrosols Brazil Terra Preta


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Charcoal production


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Production

Sieving

Application

Charcoal production and residue use


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Manmade soils

Photos:Gilvan Martins,Embrapa, Brazil


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Photos:Gilvan Martins,Embrapa, Brazil


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Manmade soils cash crop gardens


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Manmade soils cash crop gardens


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Terra Preta creation?


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Traditional Use US (1847)Charcoal absorbs and condenses the nutritive gases within its por

Charcoal often checks rust in wheat, and mildew in other crops

Ammoniacalliquor holds large quantities of nitrogen,.charcoaldust may be added , ..the charcoal soon combine with the ammoni..it is a powerful manure,

Guano should be mixed with twice its bulk of charcoal dust

Charcoal should be added to liquid manure to absorb the ammon

Poudrette is the name given to the human faeces after they havebeen mixed with charcoal dust..

A dressing of charcoal has in many instances, been found sobeneficial that it has been extensively introduced in France for thwheat crop

Theturnep (Brassica rapa.) Charcoal dust applied in the same wayhas been found to increase the early growth from four to ten- fold.

Elad et al. 2010,

Phytopathology

Steiner et al. 2010,J. Environ. Qual.

Danny Day

and others


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JOHANNES LEHMANN, JOHN GAUNT, and MARCO RONDON Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 2006Lehmann et al. 2006

Recalcitrance


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Biochar Research Terra Preta Nova

EMBRAPA research station Brazil


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~50% of C remains as charcoal

Slash and Char as Alternative to Slash and Burn

~2% of C remains as charcoal

Photo: Steve Welch


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Increased yields with biocharLehmann and Rondon 2006, Steiner et al 2007, Plant and Soil

Increased retention of fertilizednitrogen = fertilization efficiencyLehmann et al 2003, and Steiner et al 2008

Reduced acidityTopoliantz et al 2005, Steiner et al 2007

Increased mineral nutrition (mainly K)Steiner et al 2007

Increased Cation Exchange CapacityTeixeira et al, unpublished

www.biocharfund.org

Slash and Char research results


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How to provide access to carbon credits for smallscale projects (small farmers)?

Photo: Biocharfund


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How to provide access to carbon credits for smallscale projects (small farmers)?

Aggregated transaction costs are currently averaging about $200,000per project. (UNDP, CDM Users Guide)


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Carbon Sequestration prospects

Land tenure

Additionality

Permanence

Leakage

Verification and monitoring

Biochar carbon sequestration is less prejudiced by the greatest

obstacles of land use and forestry (LULUCF and REDD) carbon projects


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34 Regional Biochar Groups according to IBI


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Terra Preta Nova First Terra Preta workshop, Manaus 2002

terra preta, christoph steiner

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