Slash and Char as an Alternative to Slash and Burn

Slash and Char as an Alternative to Slash and Burn
Christoph Steiner, Christoph Steiner, University of Bayteuth, Germany, Manaus, Brasil, 2002

Studies on the Human Impact on Forests and Floodplains in the Tropics (SHIFT)

Soil charcoal amendments maintain soil fertility and create a carbon sink

Aims:
• Reduce nutrient loss through burning and leaching
• Develop a sustainable agricultural practice for the tropics
• Reduce CO2 emissions in agriculture

Hypotheses:
• Organic ferilizer improves soil quality in the long term in comparison to mineral fertilizer
• Charcoal increases the nutrient-use efficiency of crops
• Charcoal soil amendments increase CEC longer than other OM amendments