National Pingtung University of Science and Technology

Pingtung, Taiwan.
Odette Varela Milla
Wu-Jang Huang PhD.

Contents:

Objectives
Introduction
Characteristics of carbonized rice residues
Biochar preparation and characterization
Scanning electron microscopy analysis
Water spinach
Worm avoidance test
Soil
Application of rice husk biochar and wood
biochar to soil
Results
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Objectives:
Realize an investigation of the short-term effects
related to slow pyrolysis biochar effects in plant
growth.
Furthermore it is planned to determine biochar
characteristics such as biodegradability, porosity and
cation exchange capacity, produced from agricultural
waste.

Organic waste as feedstock for biochar production

Many different materials have been proposed as biomass

feedstocks for biochar, including wood, grain husks, nut
shells, manure and crop residues, (Lua et al., 2004, Martinez et
al., 2006, Gonzalz et al., 2009).

 The use of rice straw and rice husk has been practiced for a long
time (Ponamperuma, 1982; Eagle et al., 2000; Singh et al., 2008;
Kaewpradit et al., 2009).

Karmakar et al., (2009) studied the effect of application of fly ash

and rice husk ash, the study showed that the application of these
type of waste improved soil properties by decreasing soil bulk density
and increasing soil pH, organic carbon, available nutrients, and crops
yield.

 The total amount of crop residues produced each year in rice-based

systems of Asia can be roughly estimated at about 112 million tons of
rice husks (based on 2005 production and a husk/paddy ratio of 0.2).
(Pandey 1998)
Asia and China Rice Production 2008

Source: http://www.fao.org/corp/statistics/en/

Residue burning is widely practiced and causes air pollution, human

health problems, and considerable nutrient losses.
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Taiwans cultivated land area

250000
0.14%

Hectares

200000
150000

0.64%

0.34%

100000
99.36%

99.66%

99.86%

50000
0.54%

0
Organic (ha)
No organic (ha)

99.46%

Rice

3.34%
96.66%

Fruits

Tea

949.44

Vegetable
s
518.43

295.52

139.84

Others
crops
453.1

147081.56

151573.57

215067.48

25647.16

13107.9

Source: Organization of certification Agriculture and Food Agency ,Council of Agriculture. 2009

Characteristics of Carbonized Rice Residues

Carbonized rice husks are a very light material with a
microporous structure and a bulk density of about 0.150 g cm3
(Nakajima 1986).

The structure of rice husks is preserved in the carbonization

process but carbonized husks break easily, especially if
carbonized at high temperatures.

Biochar preparation and characterization

Biochar was found to be alkaline in nature (pH 8.2). Rice husk biochar
produced under temperatures between 500 and 600 , showed a
noticeable increment in silicon, calcium, potassium and magnesium
content.

Scanning electron microscope analysis

The EDS point analysis of rice husk indicated that the biochar
particles consisted of high silicon mineral agglomerates on lower
carbon content fibers with structures typical of its biomass
origin

10

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 Wood biochar EDS point analysis, indicated that the biochar

particles consisted of high potassium, chlorine, and calcium.
Mineral agglomerates also showed high carbon content

12

13

To investigate and quantify effects of rice husk-based

biochar and wood-based biochar on the growth of water
spinach, a field experiment was carried out under different
treatments, consisting of:
(1) control soil and fertilizer,

(2) soil with rice husk biochar and fertilizer in five

different quantities,
(3) and soil with wood biochar and fertilizer in five
different quantities.

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From the literature, the recommends amount of rice husk biochar

that should be applied is: 10 ton per hectare (Biochar and Carbon
Sequestration, a regional perspective, 2009).

1.10 m
1.94 m

Water spinach
Water convolvulus has been widely grown throughout the world. It is
found in South and Southeast Asia, Tropical Africa, South
America, and Oceania (Wenfang, 1997). However, it is only in south
and Southeast Asia that it is an important leafy vegetable.

http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0804.htm

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Worm avoidance test

A toxicity test was conducted before starting the biochar
experiment. Following the guidelines from A guide to
conducting biochar trials (Major. J., 2009) we realized a
worm avoidance test

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 We made our trial with 50 worms that were purchased in a fish

shop
The container was prepared with rice husk biochar and soil from
the experimental field. We had as a result that most of the
worms shown an acceptance for rice husk biochar

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 The experiment was

conducted on an
uncultivated clayey Ultisol
soil, which are strongly
leached, acid forest soils
with relatively low native
fertility.

http://eusoils.jrc.ec.europa.eu/esdb_archive/eudasm/asia/maps/TW3000_1SO.htm

Soil

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 Germination comparison between Soil field with Biochar and

soil field without biochar
Soil with biochar shows the best germination

20

Application of rice husk biochar and wood

biochar to soil

Soil preparation

21

 Biochars were weighted and later added to each one of the

plots

22

Top soil mixing technique (Major, 2009)

Before transplanting was necessary to irrigate for 10 minutes
Following the literature recommendations, plants were transplanted
in a distance of 15cm between them.
Each plot had 22 plants
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Morphology

Leaf number
Leaf length and wide
Stem size
Stem number
Root size
Weight

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Results:
Water spinach plants for all of the considered treatments were
harvested after 8 weeks.

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26

Effect of rice husk biochar and wood biochar on plant

root growth

All water spinach plants were measured before harvesting;

carefully plants and roots were removed from soil.

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28

Statistical analysis

Both biochar treatments where compared using least

significant difference (LSD), for their main effects
on plant growth properties (SAS 9.1, 2004).

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30

Rice husk
Wood

Leaf number

40
30
20
10
Rice husk
Wood

3
160

Leaf wide (mm)

20
15
10
5
0

120

Rice husk
Wood

100
80

160

60

140

40

120

20

100

80
0
60

Leaf length (mm)

Rice husk
Wood

Leaf length (mm)

Treatments
140

Treatments

40
20
0

Treatments

Treatments

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Rice husk
Wood

3.5

2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
Rice husk
Wood

0.5
0.0

5
200

Treatments
Stem size (mm)

Stem number

3.0

150
100
50
0

Treatments

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Randomly
we
choose
water
spinach
plants
from
each
treatment, T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, treated with each one of the biochars.
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Rice Husk
Wood

Root size (mm)

150

100

50

Treatments

34

Effect of rice husk biochar and wood biochar on

plant fresh weight

From each treatment, plants were collected

All plants were classified by treatment
Plants were weighted
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Rice Husk
Wood

0.6

Weight (kg)

0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0.0

Treatments

36

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Conclusions
Rice husk biochar showed better holding capacity than wood
based biochar, due to the differences in their particle size, rice
husk biochar was able to integrate better into soil making the
distribution more uniform.

Water spinach requires plenty of water because of its high

succulence, regardless of this information, we irrigated the
plants every 2 days for only 10 minutes.
The plants were able to absorb the water that biochar was
retaining, being not affected by the lack of water.
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