The effects of climate change have become increasingly clear in recent years. Long, hot and dry summers alternate with winters with little snow and warm temperatures. Heavy precipitation and long periods of drought affect people's lives, agriculture and thus also food security. In Switzerland, several cantons and municipalities have already declared a climate emergency. In addition to these efforts to mitigate climate change, however, measures are also needed to adapt agriculture to climate change.
Biochar is said to have great potential for climate protection and adaptation. Proponents claim that large amounts of CO2 can be stored in the long term in the agriculturally used areas of the city of Zurich in the form of plant biomass (wood), which is carbonised and added to the soil, and that the yield security of these soils can be improved through the increased water retention capacity. However, the positive properties have so far only been proven in tropical systems and in small field and laboratory trials under scientific conditions. Data and experience from long-term application in Swiss practice are lacking.
In this situation, the new long-term practical trial Black goes green is now starting on the land of the Juchhof organic farm. Grün Stadt Zürich and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL are supervising this trial for at least seven years. Within the framework of this trial, the short-, medium- and long-term effects of the plant charcoal on yield stability and carbon storage will be investigated from 2021.
Projektkoordination und -durchführung
