CROSS BORDER LIVING LABORATORIES FOR AGROFORESTRY

Workshop on biochar as a component of an agroforestry-based circular economy

24 February 2023

Paulo Rodrigues

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The production and use of biochar is a much-discussed topic, especially in relation to climate protection measures. In order to shed more light on the potential and challenges for its application in agroforestry systems, the German Agroforestry Association (DeFAF e.V.) in cooperation with the University Cottbus-Senftenberg and the agroforestry farmer Thomas Domin invited to a workshop on this topic on February 16, 2023 in Peickwitz, South Brandenburg.

The event, which was organised in the frame of the research project AgroBaLa that focuses on the promotion of climate resilience in the agricultural sector through agroforestry, attracted more than 30 people who showed great interest in the workshop topic.

Before the interactive exchange on three sub-topics in smaller working groups, several technical contributions were part the program. Julia Günzel from the DeFAF briefly explained the background to the AgroBaLa project and connected to that the reasons for the workshop. Thomas Domin as farm manager and host of the event presented the farm and ist agroforestry systems that have been established several years ago. Afterwards Dr. Nikolas Hagemann, scientist at Agroscope, managing director of Ithaka gGmbH and board member of the Biochar Association e.V., gave a vivid introduction on the subject of biochar with a focus on agriculture. In addition to current trends and the possible forms of application, he also explained how important it is to acknowledge biochar as an official component of fertilization in order to further establish its use in agriculture (and agroforestry) in the long term. Joachim Böttcher, a producer of biochar substrates for several years, who also actively implemented agroforestry on his farm, then reported on his experiences in the area of humus formation in the soils with the help of biochar. He also described some of the currently available technologies for the production of biochar and showed how this can be regionally implemented on the basis of some examples.

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