India is the second-largest agro-based economy and
year after year it generates huge crop residue and inadequate management leads
to its burning which generates smoke and particulate matter emission, causing
air pollution and contributes to global warming. To curtailing the issue Indian
Government has launched many campaigns and some policies. According to the
Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), India generates an average of
500 million tons (Mt hereafter) of crop residue per year(1).
However, the majority of the crop residue is utilized as fodder and fuel, but
still, a surplus amount of residue is burned every year, this burning produces
carbon dioxide and other gases that are detrimental to the environment,
therefore a sustainable approach is an urgency to resolve these problems. The
stubbles are rich in lignocelluloses and cellulose, therefore difficult to
decompose, taking all the factors into account-why not make this biomass into a
utilizable substance like producing bio-fuel and compost and utilize it to
cultivate mushrooms? moreover, the dry biomass could be converted into biochar,
the process of producing biochar is Pyrolysis, i.e. heating the dry mass in the
absence or limited oxygen, by this process the dry stubbles converted into
charcoal and this can be used in agriculture as a soil amendment when such
produced charcoal is used in agriculture is termed as biochar, The marvels of
this biochar is that it resides in the soil for many years, hence act as a sink
of carbon dioxide and due to its physical and chemical properties, it is used
in agriculture as a soil amendment. Apart from agricultural applications, it
has other applications too like cosmetics, medicine, toothpaste, and many more.
There are several research findings in which biochar application has been
included. The leaves of the garden and others could be used for the production
of leaf mold. In a research Lab of
Microbial Technology, Department of Botany, Dr.Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya,
under the mentorship of Prof.Deepak Vyas,
leaf mold has been prepared using the leaves of the garden, and also the small
pruned branches from the botanical garden were used to produce biochar using “Top
Lit Up Draft” (TLUD) methods (fig1) and their effects on different cultivar have
been evaluated which were found to be significant in the study.
Figure1:
Top lit Up Draft(TLUD) outline diagram, a portable production unit of Biochar(2).
The preparations of leaf mold is not a tedious job,
it's just collecting the leaves and bagging in a black polypyrene bag and
sprinkled with water to mist the leaves and then after tightly close the bag
and keep it aside, the bag containing the leaves must be opened in a month to
check the moisture, and if required water should be sprinkled and closed, after 5-6 months each
bag of the leaves will be composted to give a silver-grey or black like organic
matter sometimes called leaf mold (Fig 2)
Figure
2:Showing Leaf mold formation progressively: A (Initial stage), B (Silver grey
stage), and C (Black and mature stage)(2)
The
benefit of biochar:
· Maintain pH.
· Improve ion exchange capacity.
· Improvise EC of the soil.
· Act as an absorbing agent and prevent nutrient leaching.
· Provides a niche for the soil microflora.
· Sequestrate carbon itself being recalcitrant for many years in the soil.
· Check the hydraulic potential of the soil.
· Prevent water evaporation.
· Removes pesticides by various chemical bonding.
The
benefit of leaf compost or leaves mold.
· Provides macro and micronutrients to the plants.
· Can be used as a poting soli.
· Used as mulch
· Excellent compost for organic matter
· Suitable for beneficial microbes.
· Improves soil texture and holds nutrients for a longer time and provides to plants slowly.
·
Could play an effective role in Harit Griha, Nagar Van
establishment
With the above facts and methods described, it can
be concluded that we with our simple effort could stop or prevent the burning
of stubbles and the leaves by converting them to biochar and leaf mold
respectively, and the processed products can be effectively utilized in
agriculture as a fertilizer, burning is the simplest way of contributing carbon
dioxide to the environment. Therefore these methods could help us in preventing
burnings, and hence play a crucial role in mitigating the carbon while
fertilizing the soil.
“Men love
to wonder, and that is the seed of science”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Reference:
1. Bhuvaneshwari
S, Hettiarachchi H, Meegoda JN. Crop residue burning in India: Policy
challenges and potential solutions. Int J Environ Res Public Health.
2019;16(5).
2. Pathak P, Singh C, Chaudhary N, Vyas D. A
Comparative Study of Biochar, Leaf compost and Spent Mushroom compost for
tomato growth. Res J Agric Sci. 2020;11(6):1362-1366,.
