Biochar and Soil Physical Health

Abstract

The use of organic materials for reclamation of soil physical health indicators of degraded soil is germane for sustainable agriculture. Despite the soil conservation effectiveness of organic fertilizer , its adoption remains low among smallholder farmers in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa because of its offensive odor and bulkiness. Farmers desire materials that are not bulky, handled with ease, ensure maxi-mum nutrient retention, improve soil structural quality, reduce soil compaction, and increase water retention, which will also increase soil productivity and crop yield. These are the greatest attractions for the introduction of biochar for improvement of soil physical health. The pyrolytic processes of various organic materials to biochar have suppressed the effects of distractive odor of fresh and composted organic materials while reducing the bulkiness experienced during application. The potentials of biochar in improving nutrient retention and release have been pub-lished by various authors, but little information is available for soil physical health indicators. Therefore, the potentials of biochar in restoring physical health indicators such as particle size distribution, bulk density, pore size distribution, soil water retention and distribution, compaction and aggregate size distribution and stability of degraded soil shall be discussed in this chapter.