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The variation in the color of the soils from dark to red, as explained by Laurens Rademakers the darker soils could have been caused by people?!
he Batibo technique was described to us as to work as follows: before
the planting season, farmers collect big piles of elephant grass or
any other type of savannah grass, which they spread out over their
fields to dry it. After the grass has dried, they pile it so as to
make long strips, on which they will grow their crops. Then they cover
the big rows of grass with a layer of mud, which they leave to dry
again. After the mud has dried and hardened, they open one part of the
strip and set fire to the grass contained in this "container". The
fire travels slowly through this "kiln", providing a low oxygen
environment, and chars all the biomass. After this operation, they
crush the mud layer, and the char beneath it. They repeat the effort
several times to create layers of char and crushed mud. This then
becomes their soil bed, on which they start planting crops when they
rains arrive. The rains turn this soil layer into an apparently
fertile soil. To our own amazement, the farmers of our workshop in
Kendem immediately understood the biochar concept, because of their
knowledge of this Batibo technique.
the planting season, farmers collect big piles of elephant grass or
any other type of savannah grass, which they spread out over their
fields to dry it. After the grass has dried, they pile it so as to
make long strips, on which they will grow their crops. Then they cover
the big rows of grass with a layer of mud, which they leave to dry
again. After the mud has dried and hardened, they open one part of the
strip and set fire to the grass contained in this "container". The
fire travels slowly through this "kiln", providing a low oxygen
environment, and chars all the biomass. After this operation, they
crush the mud layer, and the char beneath it. They repeat the effort
several times to create layers of char and crushed mud. This then
becomes their soil bed, on which they start planting crops when they
rains arrive. The rains turn this soil layer into an apparently
fertile soil. To our own amazement, the farmers of our workshop in
Kendem immediately understood the biochar concept, because of their
knowledge of this Batibo technique.
Laurens Rademakers
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