Prospects of Biochar for Sustainable Agriculture and Carbon Sequestration: An Overview for Eastern Himalayas

Jayanta Layek, Rumi Narzari, Samarendra Hazarika, Anup Das, Krishnappa Rangappa, Shidayaichenbi Devi, Arumugam Balusamy, Saurav Saha, Sandip Mandal, Ramkrushna Gandhiji Idapuganti, Subhash Babu, Burhan Uddin Choudhury and Vinay Kumar Mishra
Additional contact information
Jayanta Layek: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India
Rumi Narzari: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India
Samarendra Hazarika: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India
Anup Das: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Tripura Centre, Agartala 799001, Tripura, India
Krishnappa Rangappa: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India
Shidayaichenbi Devi: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India
Arumugam Balusamy: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India
Saurav Saha: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Sikkim Centre, Gangtok 737102, Sikkim, India
Sandip Mandal: ICAR Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal 462038, Madhya Pradesh, India
Ramkrushna Gandhiji Idapuganti: ICAR Central Institute for Cotton Research, Nagpur 440010, Maharashtra, India
Subhash Babu: ICAR Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, Delhi, India
Burhan Uddin Choudhury: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Umiam 793103, Meghalaya, India
Vinay Kumar Mishra: ICAR Research Complex for North East Hill Region, Tripura Centre, Agartala 799001, Tripura, India

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-19

Abstract: The net arable land area is declining worldwide rapidly due to soil erosion, drought, loss of soil organic carbon, and other forms of degradation. Intense rainfall, cultivation along steep slopes, unscientific land-use changes, shifting cultivation, soil acidity, and nutrient mining in hills and mountains make agriculture unsustainable and less profitable. Hills and mountain ecosystems of the Eastern Himalayan Region (EHR) are further prone to the impact of climate change posing a serious threat to agricultural production and the environment. Increasing soil carbon reserves contributes to multiple ecosystem services, improves soil nutrient and water-holding capacities, and advances climate-resilient agriculture. Thus, carbon sequestration is increasingly becoming an important aspect of farming among researchers in the region. The EHR predominantly practices shifting cultivation that degrades the ecosystem and promotes land degradation and biodiversity loss. Leaching of exchangeable bases is highly favored due to excess rainfall which in turn creates an acidic soil accounting for >84% of the region. Application of lime to raise the soil acidity for the cultivation of crops did not get adequate acceptance among the farming community due to multiple issues such as cost involvement, non-availability in time and place, and transportation issues. The application of biochar as soil amendments is widely known to improve soil’s physical, chemical, and biological properties. Biochar has also emerged as a potential candidate for long-term carbon sequestration due to its inbuilt structure and higher stability. Shift from traditional “slash and burn” culture to “slash and char” might lead to the sequestration of carbon from the atmosphere. Around 0.21 Pg of carbon (12% of the total anthropogenic carbon emissions by land-use change) can be sequestered in the soil if the traditional “slash and burnt” practice is converted to “slash and char”. The objective of this review is to provide detailed information about the role of biochar in altering the soil properties for sustaining agriculture and carbon sequestration, especially for hills and mountain ecosystems.

Keywords: biochar; carbon sequestration; climate change; shifting cultivation; soil properties; Himalayan Region (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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