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| Biochar stability and sustainability in Ghanaian agriculture | ||||||||||||
The potential significance of stabilising plant-fixed carbon into charcoal-like material for climate change mitigation is now well established1,2. Examination of terra preta soil from Amazonia has illustrated how over millennia the use of such material in soil (as “biochar”) can enhance soil fertility3. Charring of biomass appears to have been used for similar purposes in other parts of the world, possibly including the UK4. In Ghana, population pressure and shrinking land availability, declining soil productivity, and issues around energy security and climate change adaptation provide strong context for re-examination of traditional use of biochar in farming. This PhD links an established research network in Ghana to examine its use in subsistence agriculture in the tropics5, involving significant fieldwork (up to 20% time) in Ghana, in conjunction with the Soil Research Institute, Kumasi. Application deadline 31st March 2010 1 Lehmann J. 2007. A handful of carbon. Nature 447, 143-144; 2 Sohi SP, Krull E, Lopez-Capel E, Bol R. 2010. A review of biochar and its use and function in soil. Advances in Agronomy 105, 47-82; 3 Lehmann J, Kern DC, Glaser B, Woods WI (eds). 2003. Amazonian dark earths: origin, properties, management. Dordecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers 505pp; 4 Young A. 1804. The Farmers Calendar, Richard Phillips, London, pp.171-182. 5 Lehmann CJ. and Joseph S. 2009. Biochar systems. In: Biochar for environmental management: science and technology (eds. CJ Lehmann and S Joseph), Earthscan, London, pp.147-168. |
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