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Biochar: A game changer for sustainable agriculture
Book chapter

Biochar: A game changer for sustainable agriculture

Muhammad Mahroz Hussain, Waqas Mohy-Ud-Din, Fazila Younas, Nabeel Khan Niazi, Irshad Bibi, Xing Yang, Fahad Rasheed and Zia Ur Rahman Farooqi
Sustainable Agriculture: Technical Progressions and Transitions, pp.143-157
Springer Nature, 1st
20/10/2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-83066-3_8

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Abstract

The non-sustainability of soil management and agricultural practices that can damage the environment and enhance the risk of food insecurity are the emerging concerns globally. Sustainable agriculture endeavours to use a few conservation practices that can reduce the hostile effects of land-use intensification. Among the different conservation practices, micronutrient-enriched biochar (BC) is an emerging soil amendment that has proven as an accessible and critical input for sustainable agriculture. It could efficiently sequester a vast amount of carbon in the soil, thus increasing soil productivity, repairing soil erosion and minimising agriculture-related greenhouse gas emissions. Besides, it can also act as a reservoir of micro- and macronutrients. Research has also shown that using biochar can increase the crop productivity capacity of soil under various stresses and advance world food security. Over the last decade, many experiments have been carried out on biochar to see if it can be used to boost sustainable agriculture. This chapter discusses biochar’s important properties, its relationship with soil microflora and its ability to boost crop productivity.

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