IMPROVING WATER AND NUTRIENT RETENTION THROUGH PRECISION APPLICATION OF BIOCHAR IN HILL FARMING

The goal of this project is to quantify the economic and environmental benefits from selective application of biochar. We will develop a software tool for farmers to use to quantify benefits and get most return on thier biochar investiment . The software tool developed in this project will use an advanced computation model that incorporates field topography, soil properties, crop management practices, meteorological data, and targeted outcome to predict how farmers should apply biochar to achieve the highest return on investment.The specific project objectives are:Characterize biochar produced from commonly available raw materials including deciduous tree wood waste, dairy waste, and other forestry/agricultural processes.Expand current model to include snowmelt, slope orientation, subsurface hard panes, and climate change forecast and implement a high resolution, farm scale model using Falcon Supercomputer.Validate the model predictions for moisture, nutrient (N, P, K and S) retention, transport, runoff, groundwater recharge, and biological activities.Develop a software plugin for farmers to use the model.