Effects of Charcoal as Slow Release Nutrient Carrier on N-P-K Dynamics and Soil Microbial Population: Pot Experiments with Ferralsol Substrate

Submitted by Erin Rasmussen on

Publication Type:

Book Article

Authors:

Steiner, C.; Garcia, M.; Zech, W.

Source:

Amazonian Dark Earths: Wim Sombroek's Vision, p.325-338 (2009)

URL:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9031-8_17

Abstract:

Giardina et al. (2000) reported that 300 million people annually practice shifting agriculture, affecting 400 million hectares of the planet's 1,500 million ha of arable land. The sustainability of shifting cultivation and slash-and-burn continues to be a topic of discussion. Kleinman et al. (1995) characterized sound slash-and-burn agriculture as an ecologically sustainable agroecosystem because crop yields can be maintained without inputs of non-renewable fossil energy resources for fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. According to Woods and McCann (1999) shifting cultivation can be an environmentally friendly analogue to the natural processes of disturbance and regenerative succession in tropical forests. They suggest that the Amerindian population made long lasting improvements to notoriously infertile tropical soils by long-term mulching, frequent burning, and the application of charcoal and ash which increased soil pH and thereby suppressed Al activity favourable for specific microorganisms responsible for the darkening of these soils, called terra preta de

Notes:

10.1007/978-1-4020-9031-8_17