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Cameroon biochar trial - pictures

The pictures presented here offer a snap-shot of our activities in Cameroon. They can be distributed freely, but please do credit us. We have an extensive library with many more photos of the biochar experiment. If you wish to obtain any dealing with a specific topic, please do not hesitate to contact us.

You can also consult a previous set of pictures here , which contains images of biochar raw materials and production, and of slash-and-burn farming.

Go back to the DATA PAGE or to the SUMMARY REPORT on the biochar field trials in Cameroon.

Char, plots and participants

Caption: Bags of biochar being prepared for distribution. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer shows a bag of biochar, representing a quantity for one sub-plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A group of farmers is briefed on how to implement the introduction of biochar into the soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Farmers introduce biochar into the soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Farmers introduce biochar into the soil. . Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Farmers introduce biochar into the soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Farmers introduce biochar into the soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Farmers being briefed on how to introduce the inputs into the soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A plot into which the different quantities of char have been introduced. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: A biochar test plot ready to receive maize seeds. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Farmers discuss some aspects of the plot design. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A demonstration plot that attracted many interested farmers. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Most of the participants in this biochar field trial are women. Here: Unity & Progress, in the village of Kake Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Signboard of the Young Farmers Association in the village of Ediki. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Focus Farmers, a participating group in the village of Kake. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Ambitious Ladies, a farmers group consisting of women only. Biochar Fund's Laurens Rademakers is proud to pose with them. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Happy Mothers, a participating group in the village of Kendem. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Children of the village of Kendem. Are they future farmers? Will they suffer the effects of climate change? Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

	Caption: A workshop on biochar and climate change in the village of Kendem. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none
Planting, growing, harvesting

Caption: Planting maize on biochar test plots. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Planting maize on biochar test plots. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A good emergence of the maize plants. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: A good emergence of the maize plants. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A good emergence of the maize plants. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Maize plants in their 6+ leaf stage. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Key Farmers Cameroon's coordinator, Etchi Daniel-Jones, shows healthy looking maize in a test plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Extension worker Florence Fon shows healthy looking maize in a test plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A biochar plot with maize in its 12+ leaf stage. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: A plot with maize in its 12+ leaf stage. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Father and son work together in their experimental biochar plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A group makes observations on weed growth in their test plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Thinning and weeding the biochar test plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A group weeds its plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A group weeds its plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Collecting weeds for analysis. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Collecting weeds for analysis. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Collecting weeds for analysis. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Maize ready to be harvested, Malende. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Key Farmers Cameroon's coordinator at a plot in Ediki, in which the difference between char and non-char maize was exceptionally big. In this case, the plants on the control (left lower corner) were barely in thir 8th leaf stage, whereas the plants on the char-plots (right, upper corner), were already tasseling. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Biochar Fund's Laurens Rademakers at a plot in Ediki, in which the difference between char and non-char maize was exceptionally big. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none
Biochar and 'black magic'

Caption: Many farmers have a problem with theft. They use traditional, ritual techniques to protect their crops. Here a janus-faced puppet that received some Juju magic, overseeing the biochar plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer shows the traditional way to protect crops. A combination of secret words and gestures is supposed to the trick. In this biochar plot, the magic was very effective. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: When the crop has been harvested successfully, the magic is taken out of the field. Farmers thank the spirits for protecting their biochar plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

	Caption: When the crop has been harvested successfully, the magic is taken out of the field. Biochar Fund's Laurens Rademakers thanks the spirits for protecting this biochar plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none
Roots, maize, measurements

Caption: A farmer in Malende shows the difference between the roots of a maize plant grown in biochar (left) and the roots of the same plant grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Farmers in Teke show the difference between the roots of a maize plant grown in biochar (left) and the roots of the same plant grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer in Kumba shows the difference between the roots of a maize plant grown in biochar (right) and the roots of the same plant grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Farmers in Mile One show the difference between the roots of a maize plant grown in biochar (right) and the roots of the same plant grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer in Mile One shows the difference between the roots of a maize plant grown in biochar (left) and the roots of the same plant grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer in Barombi Kang shows the difference between the roots of a maize plant grown in biochar (left) and the roots of the same plant grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Farmers in Kake show the difference between the roots of a maize plant grown in biochar (left) and the roots of the same plant grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: After the harvest, farmers uproot the plants so that their different parts can be collected, dried and analysed. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: After the harvest, farmers uproot the plants so that their different parts can be collected, dried and analysed. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: The difference between maize-roots from plants grown in biochar (above) and those grown in bare soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: After the harvest, farmers uproot the plants so that their different parts can be collected, dried and analysed. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Key Farmers Cameroon's coordinator Etchi Daniel-Jones makes some field observations. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: Farmers make basic field observations. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: In many control plots, the maize plants yield either very small or no corn whatsoever. Soil infertility is the likely cause of this situation, because when biochar is used, the crop is rather successful on the same soil. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Whereas maize on the control yields poorly, with biochar it often yields two cobs on one plant. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: ...and even three cobs. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer in Malende carries a bag of biochar maize to the collection point. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Very healthy maize obtained with the use of biochar. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: A farmer shows some maize grown in her group's experimental plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer shows a maize cob harvested from her group's biochar plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: A farmer proudly shows a big maize cob harvested from her group's biochar plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: A group of farmers shows its harvest from the biochar plot. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Maize is dried the traditional way, in a dedicated drying room or in a kitchen in which women cook on fire wood. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Key Farmers Cameroon's coordinator, Etchi Daniel-Jones, shows some maize that will be prepared for analysis. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

	Caption: Maize being prepared for drying. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none
Logistics, trekking, transport

Caption: The logistics of this biochar experiment are challenging, as most of the roads in the South-West Region are untarred. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Old four-wheel drive vehicles have their fair share of problems. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Working in the brousse requires some dedication - Biochar Fund's Laurens Rademakers pushing a stuck vehicle at night, on the road from Kendem to Bamenda. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Caption: During the rainy season roads become unpassable. Ordinary Cameroonians do a lot of pushing. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Some of the biochar test plots are located at the dense forest frontier. Here Key Farmers Cameroon's coordinator, Etchi Daniel-Jones, near the village of Kendem. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none	Caption: Some of the biochar test plots are located at the dense forest frontier. Here Biochar Fund's Laurens Rademakers near the village of Kendem. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

	Caption: Some of the biochar test plots are located at the forest frontier. Trekking is part of the job. Credit: Laurens Rademakers, Etchi Daniel-Jones Usage restrictions: none

Biochar research

Flexi-Pyrolysis

Facts about hunger

Latest science news

The July issue of Geotimes , a publication of the American Geological Institute, will focus on the biochar revolution. A short, introductory video can be watched here .

Joint UNESCO-IUGS International Geoscience Programme publishes brochure titled "Soil - Earth’s living skin" , in which it outlines the enormous importance of and threats to this key natural resource. The text is part of the International Year of the Earth. See Professor Roel Merckx's Year of the Earth lecture on "Living off the land in Africa: myths and realities" in which he sketches the crude fact that development in Africa will only happen when the continent's nutrient-poor soils are replenished and made fertile.

(June 3, 2008) Best Energies' Adrianna Downie discusses her company's integrated pyrolysis-gasification technology and biochar trials. Find more under the 'Biochar Research' section .

(May 27, 2008) NASA's Dr James Hansen includes biochar as one of the key carbon-negative energy technologies needed to achieve a reduction of atmospheric CO2 levels to 350ppm. Read the paper in the 'Biochar Research' section .

(May 23, 2008) U.S. Farm Bill Includes Biochar Research. Read the press release .

(April 10, 2008) At the 235th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, scientists report that biochar has an unprecedented ability to improve the fertility of soil — one that surpasses compost, animal manure, and other well-known soil conditioners. Biochar shows promise as a carbon-negative strategy to rein in world hunger as well as greenhouse gases, they found. Read more .

(March 31, 2008) A new report on the environmental implications of biochar as a soil amendment, written by postgraduate researcher at Swansea University, Dominic Woolf, is now online. Read the paper here or find the reference under Biochar Research .

(March 26, 2008) Dr Lucas Van Zwieten, senior research scientist of the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), discusses biochar trials. In a latest trial he found a doubling of biomass and grain yields for sweet corn and 'very significant' differences in corn production. Likewise, some biochars have shown "very, very significant reductions in nitrous oxide emissions from the soil; between five- and ten-fold reductions in nitrous oxide emissions." Listen to the podcast or read more .

More news in the Science News Archive .