How Biochar in Permaculture Can Bring Agricultural Transformation in Svalbard

Posted by Ainsley Aiken on October 1st, 2018

Spitsbergen is the largest and permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in the Norway. Located at 78 degrees, the region gives unique cultural, arctic and natural landscapes. But, the survival as a local is tougher than the life of a tourist. The scarce food resources, need of sustainable farming, and crops that can resist harsh polar climate, makes food options rare on the island.

The biochar brings a little ray of hope in improving the soil of the permafrost region of Spitsbergen. It has many credits to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the soil. Here are some simple reasons that will help local people ensure sustainable agriculture. There are three benefits of Biochar:

1. Physical
2. Biological and
3. Chemical

In Physical benefits, a gram of biochar can help yield a surface area of between 1,000, 000 – 2,500 000 million square centimeters. The Pyrolyzing and Torrefying is the resultant product of the pyrolysis of biomass, which helps in an extremely porous material. This porosity helps to hold more water during the heaviest rain.

Now you might be thinking what is the benefit of surface area?

Such a large surface area gives rise to microbial inhabitants, providing a huge area for them to live in within a limited volume. They also maintain a healthy soil profile with the help of stabilized carbon atoms which fosters the growth of mycorrhiza fungi. Biologically, Biochar has an incredibly large capacity to hold exchangeable captions. They further maintain the balance of nutrients with the help of ionically charged nutrients.

In terms of the chemical benefits; Biochar is a means of pH remediation. It tends to have a neutral pH and can remain stable in soil for thousands of years. It also creates a long-term buffer against soil acidity.