Rice husk biochar improves tomato growth

Jun 29, 2022
1 min read

This paper from 2/2/2022 is good news for tomato producers and tomato lovers alike.

What did they find?

Not only were the soil properties increased, but also the tomato height, stem girth, leaf area, flowers, fruit yields and weight. From the graphs it appears that there are 3x as many tomatoes after 12 weeks and the fruit weight is over 5x greater.

How did they do it?

Biochar produced from rice husk

Pyrolysis temp: 350 C

On field quantity: 7.5t/ha

Field parameters:

Location south west Nigeria

rainfall 963mm

sandy loam type soil

Significant sidenote:

The soil enhancement findings. Listed as 'significantly enhanced the soil physiochemical properties such as Ca, Mg, k, Na, H+, S, P, B, Zn, and cation exchangeable capacity.'

As a tomato lover myself, I'm hoping there are more long term studies and that this can start putting some of these tomatoes on our shelves.