BIOPORI

Enhancing Soil Capacity, Preventing Floods and Droughts,

Reducing Organic Trash, and Facilitating Agriculture

What is Biopori?
Biopori is a small tunnel or pore found underground in healthy soil and is created by tree
roots and soil organisms such as worms and termites. These tunnels enhance the soil’s
ground water retention capacity by effectively circulating water and oxygen into and within
the soil. Hence, the more biopori found in the soil, the healthier it is.

In untouched areas of the environment this phenomenon occurs naturally. However man-
made structural changes in and on top of the soil through, for example, deforestation,
farming and construction, have destroyed most of the naturally occurring biopori. This has in
turn led to an increase in floods and droughts. Though a problem all over Indonesia, the
highly populated island of Java, which is in fact the most populous island in the world, faces
these problems even more often. As the population of Java continues to increase, we can
expect more of the land to be put under pressure and converted for human uses. The
problems of floods and droughts will only get worse.

To address this issue, Kamir R. Brata, a scientist at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, has
developed a way to stimulate biopori through a Biopori Hole. A biopori hole is a hole dug
into the ground using a soil auger (or biopori drill). The hole has a depth of 100cm and a
width of about 10cm. Each hole can absorb 3 liters of water per minute, or 180 liters per
hour.

By filling this hole with organic or

biodegradable waste, the soil organisms
are fed. This increases the activity within
the soil and therefore increases the
amount of biopori. Improving the soil
structure by making it more porous will
enhance the soil’s absorbency and ability
to cope with flooding and drought.

But the benefits of biopori do not end with flood and drought prevention. Biopori reduces
the amount of organic waste, which is needed to fill the holes. The holes can hold 7.8 liters
of organic material, equivalent to 2-3 days of waste from a typical household. Organic waste
is usually burned in Indonesia, which contributes to the already dire air pollution. The holes
will need to be refilled regularly as decomposition occurs, thus providing a sustainable
solution for organic waste. Furthermore, the composting process in the biopori hole reduces
greenhouse gases.1 This compost can then be extracted to fertilize household gardens or
small farms. Lastly, in Indonesia, the wet season brings outbreaks of Malaria and Dengue
Fever, which are both carried by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes thrive in standing water, and thus
by addressing floods, the cases of these potentially deadly illnesses can be reduced.

So what we have here is a simple solution to various interconnected problems. And all we
need to implement it? A soil auger and organic waste.

Biopori in the City

Cities in Indonesia are often plagued by floods. Not only is there little ground left for water
absorption, the irrigation systems and river pollution further exacerbate the problem.
Biopori holes could be the key to alleviating the flood problems in and around large cities.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, organic trash is burned throughout Indonesia. This burning
can be stopped when the trash has been given a new destination, the biopori hole.

In a large city such as Jakarta, the biopori holes can be dug in any number of places. This can
range from homeowners’ backyards to shopping mall parking lots to road-side gutters.

1
“Composting offers an environmentally superior alternative to landfilliing organics that eliminates methane
production, provides a series of economic and environmental co-benefits, and has a substantial impact on
greenhouse gas reduction.” http://www.cawrecycles.org/issues/ghg/compost
Biopori for Rural Areas
The problems found in the city are similar to those in rural areas. However, flooding and
droughts can be much more devastating in rural areas as houses can be washed away and
crops destroyed. The pictures below illustrate the problems found all over Java’s rural areas,
as well as its devastating effects.

Deforestation in the hills cause soil erosion and landslides, destroying homes. At the bottom
of the hills, the fertile farm lands are flooded because the upper regions have lost their
capacity to absorb water, and irrigation canals threaten to spill over into villages.

The dry season brings droughts, and the pictures below show that the various irrigation
canals and structural ‘improvements’ have not helped as they do not address the problem of
ground water retention in the upper regions.
Biopori to Facilitate Farming
The Agricultural University of Bogor (Institut Pertanian Bogor, IPB) has been testing farming
methods in combination with biopori holes. Small farm plots on hillsides are a common
appearance in Java. Kamir Brata, pictured below right amidst his corn crop has successfully
grown various food crops by digging gullies and ridges. The crops are grown in between the
ridges, and the biopori holes are dug into the gullies. The picture on the left shows these
gullies and ridges, whilst the middle picture is of a biopori hole filled with the corn stalks
after harvesting. The rest of the corn stalks are to be placed in the gullies, where they will
turn to compost and fertilize the ground.

To test how effective the biopori holes are, concrete troughs were built at the bottom of
each small farm plot, as seen in the picture below left. The water that is not absorbed into
the ground will run off into these structures. Mr Kamir found, that even during the wet
season, the basins would not fill up, meaning the water was absorbed into the ground
perfectly. In fact, on some farm plots, he did not even incorporate biopori holes, but found
that the system of gullies and ridges was enough to stimulate the soil’s water absorption
capacity.

The picture on the right shows a farm plot that has not used the biopori holes. This picture
was taken during the dry season, which means even without much rain, the plots have
standing water. Digging biopori holes in and around these farm plots could easily fix that
problem.