Hailey Shaffer

Mr. Kazanjian

AP Environmental Science

3 June 2022

Biochar and its Impact on the Growth Rate of Crops

Introduction:

Biochar is 92-98% pure carbon produced through the torification of biomass materials.

Biochar can be obtained from wood, plant material, garbage, or any other carbonaceous

materials. For many years biochar has been used in the agriculture industry as a soil supplement.

(Liu, Hu, and Xue 2020) Its water and nutrient retention properties as well as its ability to add

carbon enrichment, all serve to enhance the plant growth process. (Jahromi and Fulcher 2020) By

adding carbon to the composition of clay or sandy soil, it improves the soil quality and structure

making it more fit for agriculture. Not only this, but it was recently discovered by scientists that

by adding biochar (carbon) to the soil it serves to sequester (remove) carbon from the

atmosphere therefore making it carbon negative. (Miesel and Goud 2020) Biochar does not

carry any of its own nutrients and instead retains them, meaning it is used in addition to fertilizer

to enhance growth, not in replacement of. (Six 2014) It also reduces the amount of fertilizer that

is needed to optimize plant growth. As a result of biochar’s promising properties, one can

conclude through experimentation that the use of biochar in addition to fertilizer in soil

composition can aid in the reduction of the latent carbon in the atmosphere, water and nutrient

runoff, and increase the growth rate of crops. (Ye, Camps-Arbestain, Shen, Lehmann, Singh, and

Sabir 2019) This contributes to greater positive outcomes such as reducing farming costs,

reducing pollution of waterways, and helping the environment and its ecosystems.
Methods:

Based on the known properties of biochar, I expect that if the concentration of biochar

increases in soil composition, then the growth rate of the plant will increase because of biochar's

water and nutrient retention abilities. In order to determine if my hypothesis is true I would

conduct an experiment that measures the growth rate in pea plants as the concentration of

biochar increases. To conduct this experiment I would need 5 identical plant pots, 15 pea plant

seeds, a water soluble fertilizer, water, biochar, and potting soil. The controls in my experiment

would include the amount of water and fertilizer the plants receive, the temperature the plants are

kept at, the amount of sunlight the plants are exposed to, the size (5 cubic inches) of the pot, and

the type of biochar, soil, and plants. The independent variables in my experiment are the amount

of potting soil in each pot and the amount of biochar in each pot, meaning the concentration of

soil to biochar differs in each pot. The dependent variable in my experiment is the height of each

plant. In conducting this experiment I would begin by first grinding biochar until it matches the

consistency of soil making sure I have at least 10 cubic inches of prepared biochar. Next, I would

begin preparing pot number one. Pot number one will be labeled pot 1 and will be given 5 cubic

inches of potting soil and no cubic inches of biochar. Following this I would prepare pot number

2 labeled pot 2 and thoroughly mix its ratio of 4 cubic inches of soil and 1 cubic inch of ground

biochar and then place it into pot 2. Next, I would repeat this process using 3 cubic inches of soil

and 2 cubic inches of ground biochar for labeled pot 3. After this I would repeat this process

again using 2 cubic inches of soil and 3 cubic inches of biochar and placing it in pot 4. Next I

would repeat this process once more using 1 cubic inch of soil and 4 cubic inches of ground

biochar. Next I will prepare a mixture of water and miracle grow fertilizer according to the

instructions on the fertilizer making a 2 gallon mixture. Once all pots are properly prepared and
labeled they will all be placed in a location indoors that receives an equal amount of sunlight and

has a constant temperature. I will then plant 3 pea plant seeds at a depth of one inch into the soil

mixture in each pot. Each day for a 6 week period each pot would receive 3 ounces of water.

Once a week, each pot will be given 3 ounces of the water/fertilizer mixture in replacement of its

daily water. Each day the plant height in each pot would be recorded on a spreadsheet with boxes

labeled the date, which pot it is in, and which plant number it is (1,2, or 3) in centimeters. At the

end of the 6 week period the growth rate of each pot in average between its three plants would be

calculated and recorded.

Results:

On the premise that pea plants grow, biochar increases soil composition, and increased

soil composition increases the growth rate of plants, I conclude that when increasing the ratio of

biochar to soil in the above experiment the growth rate of the pea plants increases. This means on

these premises, in my experiment I would expect the growth rate of pea plants and the

concentration of biochar to soil to be a directly proportional relationship. However, I believe that

if one were to continue increasing the concentration of biochar to soil the optimum ratio of

biochar to soil would be determined. This means that I believe that at a certain concentration

there would no longer be a correlated height increase in the pea plants. However, other possible

results could be that there is no correlation between the biochar to soil concentration and growth

or that they share an indirectly proportional relationship. Possible sources of error in this

experiment could be an un thoroughly mixed soil/biochar mixture, an unequal amount of

fertilizer or water given to a plant, an incorrect or missed day of measurement, or an unexpected

predator to the pea plants.

Conclusion and Analysis:

 The results of the experiment are important because they can prove the effectiveness of

biochar on the growth rate of crops. These results also can explain the relationship between the

concentration of biochar to soil and whether or not there is an optimum ratio. These results are

important as they can improve the agriculture industry through identifying whether or not

farmers should use biochar at all and if so, the ratio of biochar to soil they should use to

maximize their crop yield.

Bibliography/References:

Jahromi, N. B., & Fulcher, A. (n.d.). What is biochar and how different biochars can improve

your crops. https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/W829.pdf

This source provides background on and a description of biochar. This source also

describes the different ways in which biochar can be used in agriculture when taking into

account its price and production. The strength of this source is that it is well organized

and provides in depth explanations and applications. This source's weakness is that it

does not draw information from an experiment and instead just provides conclusions

based on research. This is relevant to my field of study as it educates me on the context of

soil. The conclusion of this source summarizes the benefits and determinants of biochar

as well as techniques that can be used to maximize its benefits. This relates to other

studies in the field as it also discusses the benefits of biochar in agriculture but differs as

it mainly discusses properties of biochar. The authors of this source are credible as they

are a graduate student and a professor of plant sciences. I like this source and plan on

using it in the background of my essay.

Liu, T., Hu, Z., & Xue, J. (2020, July). Biochar exerts negative effects on soil fauna across

multiple trophic levels in a cultivated acidic soil.

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338955751_Biochar_exerts_negative_effects_o

n_soil_fauna_across_multiple_trophic_levels_in_a_cultivated_acidic_soil

This source examines the results of an experiment the authors conducted which shows

negative effects on species diversity. This source also explains what other possible

contributors to these results could be and the other positive effects of soil in the

experiment. This source weighs the good and bad effects of biochar. A strength of this

source is its examination and evaluation of possible dependent and independent variables

in their experiment. The weakness of this source is that it is extremely short. The

conclusion of this source discusses how biochar has both many positive and negative

effects as evident in their experiment. This source is relevant to my lab as it provides

possible negative effects of biochar in agriculture. This contrasts many other studies of its

kind in this field as it mainly discusses negative effects of biochar and most other studies

discuss positive effects. The authors of this experiment all have esteemed degrees in

Agriculture and Sciences. I like this source and plan on using it in my counterargument

and possible sources of error.

Miesel, J., & Goud, M. C. (2020, June 17). Biochar: An emerging soil amendment. Michigan

State University. Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/biochar-an-emerging-soil-amendment

This source discusses what biochar is and different brands, forms, and rates of

application affect crop yield and growth as well as soil fertility. This source also explains

how not all types of soil are compatible with biochar and how one must take into account

the type of soil and biochar they have in order to prevent negative effects. The source's

strength is that it discusses the many variables that one may not normally take into
 account when experimenting with soil and biochar. The weakness of this article is that it

is very short and does not go very in depth. The conclusion of this article discusses

biochar's high potential and summarizes its effect on soil and soil fertility. This source is

relevant to my study because it explains why biochar and soil may not be compatible

which could possibly explain results of my experiment. This relates to other studies in the

field as it also discusses the benefits of soil, but differs as it also explains possible

detriments. The authors of this source are very credible as they both have esteemed

degrees in agriculture and ecology and also teach college level courses at Michigan

University. I enjoy this source as it is easy to read and plan on using it to describe

possible sources of error in my experiment.

Six, J. (2014, January 4). Biochar: Is there a dark side? Retrieved April 4, 2022, from

https://ethz.ch/en/news-and-events/eth-news/news/2014/04/biochar-is-there-a-dark-side.h

tml

This source describes how biochar gained rapid popularity for its positive benefits and as

a result the negative side effects have gotten "forgotten" about and have not received as

much attention. The strength of the source is that it does not have an apparent bias as

although it mainly talks about the negative effects of biochar, it does also mention and

explain the positive effects. The weakness of this article is that it has a more persuasive

than informative tone. The conclusion of this source discusses how now that the "buzz"

has started to subside, researchers are slowly starting to bring more attention to the

negative effects of biochar. The conclusion also explains that it is important that the

negative effects get just as much attention as the positive in order to educate farmers so

they know what they must avoid and what practices they must adopt in order to obtain the
 benefits and avoid the detriments. This source is relevant to my field of study as it shows

the negative side of biochar which can help me provide counter information and avoid

bias. This contrasts other studies of its field as it mainly discusses the negative effects of

biochar instead of the positive. The author of this source is credible as he is a professor of

Sustainable Agroecosystems at the Institute of Agricultural Sciences. I like this source as

it explains why there is much more information on the positive effects of biochar than on

the negative effects.

Ye, L., Camps-Arbestain, M., Shen, Q., Lehmann, J., Singh, B., & Sabir, M. (2019, August 22).

Biochar effects on crop yields with and without fertilizer: A meta-analysis of field studies

using separate controls.

http://www.css.cornell.edu/faculty/lehmann/publ/SoilUseManage%2036,%202-18%2020

20%20Ye.pdf

This source discusses peer reviewed research on biochar's benefits and detriments in

terms of crop yields. Also in this source is an experiment investigating the growth rate of

different crops and crop textures' growth rates when grown with and without fertilizer in

addition to biochar. A strength of this source is its vast amount of peer reviewed research

on biochar and fertilizer in crop growth. The weakness of this source is that it is very long

and mostly researched with a very small conclusion. The conclusion of this source

explains the effects of their variables as well as their short and long term effects. The

conclusion also summaries their experimental data which proved that biochar caused a

significant increase in crop growth rate. This source is relevant to my IRP because it

shows the difference in growth rate when fertilizer is and is not used which I did not

investigate in my experiment as I used fertilizer on all of my crops. In terms of

relationships to other studies in this field. The author's of this source are all highly

educated in agricultural sciences and represent an esteemed organization of Cornell

University. I plan on using this source to investigate and discuss the fertilizer's effect on

the growth rate of the crops in my experiment.