Thank you very much for the opportunity to share with you my following experience done in Mollesnejta - Centre of Andean Agroforestry situated in the semi-arid valley of Cochabamba / Bolivia:
The loss of soil fertility at the global scale is alarming, as are the impacts of climate change. Conventional agriculture practices are reducing the organic matter content of soil as well as the soil´s capacity to regenerate nutrients to a minimum. In order to ensure food security in the future, sustainable agriculture techniques have to be promoted. These techniques should not only be productive, but also build soil fertility in the long term. At Mollesnejta- Centro de Agroforestería Andina, we apply dynamic agroforestry measures in combination with two agroecological techniques, with the goal of improving soil quality: (a) Activated Biochar and (b) Ramial Chipped Wood (RCW). Pruning material sourced from pruning in agroforestry systems was used as a soil amendment through both techniques. The presentation will describe the benefits of Activated Biochar and RCW and discusses their preparation and application to the soil, where both act as long-term carbon sink. Also, are provided the results of the experiences obtained at Mollesnejta- Centro de Agroforestería Andina after using these techniques. Both techniques proved to be effective at improving soil fertility and the capacity of rainwater storage. In combination with their impact as carbon sink it would be reasonable to intensify the practice of dynamic agroforestry.
Best regards,
Noemi Stadler-Kaulich
Д-р. Noemi Stadler-Kaulich