EXPERIMENTATION OF “BIOCHAR” FOR THE RESTORATION OF SOIL FERTILITY IN IVOIRE COTON AREA

Faced with the degradation and progressive loss of soil fertility, Ivoire Coton has undertaken several actions to restore arable land.

In this context, the company engaged in experimenting with the technique of producing and using “Biochar”. Biochar is a carbon-rich product obtained from the pyrolysis of certain resources available in the environment.

These are essentially accessible and renewable materials such as cotton stalks, rice husks, corn husks, peanut shells, etc.

Biochar is used to amend and fertilize poor and acidic soils. It can be combined with additional organic and chemical fertilizers (Compost, NPK). Biochar promotes plant growth and improves yields. The specific advantages of Biochar are :

• Restructuring of the soil by improving its physical properties ;
• Improving soil pH ;
• Improving water retention in the soil ;
• Increased availability of soil nutrients ;
• The formation of humus and a porous structure which creates a sustainable habitat for microorganisms ;
• Carbon storage in the soil.

Activities related to the testing of this innovation for the 2023/2024 campaign are carried out in the Regional Directorates of Dianra and Odienné.