Biochar
Turning the world’s most widely distributed invasive species into a solution for local farmers
The most fertile soil ever found — Terra Preta, in the Amazon — was made by indigenous people roughly 5,000 years ago. The secret ingredient was biochar: similar to charcoal, but made at higher temperatures, and buried into the soil. This is a long term carbon store- it can stay stable for even thousands of years. All carbon can turn into carbon dioxide, but Biochar has the slowest conversion rate to carbon dioxide. So it’s essentially a carbon sink, locking away carbon for even thousands of years. This soil is really fertile, with soil microorganisms thriving, it maintains pH, it holds nutrients and keeps it from being leached away in the rain. So, soil brought back to life.
We started very small, trying to make biochar at a village scale in the Gudalur region, but at the scale, it wasn’t economically feasible We have continued to learn, and now — through our partners at WildCarbon Conservation and Livelihoods — something much larger is becoming possible.
What We’re Doing
WildCarbon’s pyrolysis plant converts Lantana biomass — harvested by indigenous communities — into 5 to 10 tonnes of high-quality biochar every day. We are working with Parry Agro (Murugappa Group) and potentially Tata Coffee on large-scale field trials, testing whether biochar can meaningfully improve soil fertility and reduce synthetic fertiliser use in plantation crops. At the same time, we are working with small farmers who want to use Lantana-derived biochar to improve their organic agriculture — growing food in ways that are kinder to the earth.