A NEW SOIL AMENDMENT

With the right policy push and market incentives, India can transform the challenge of stubble burning into a pathway for agricultural renewal

- Dr Sanjib Kumar Karmee

Agriculture continues to be the backbone of India’s economy, providing livelihood to around 70% of rural population. Today, the agricultural sector stands at a critical crossroads.

On one hand, the country is facing soil degradation, declining fertility, and mounting pressure on groundwater resources. On the other hand, millions of tonnes of crop residues are burnt annually, adding to severe air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and irreversible nutrient loss. Between these overlapping crises lies a largely underexplored yet promising solution - the application of torrefied biomass (biotorr) as a new soil amendment.

Torrefaction is essentially a mild thermo-chemical pre-treatment process. It involves heating of biomass at around 200-300°C within a low-oxygen environment, producing a carbon-rich, hydrophobic, and energy-dense material called biotorr. Although biotorr has received attention as a renewable fuel substitute; its value as a soil amendment is only now being recognised. For a country like India, which is struggling to restore soil productivity while managing agricultural waste sustainably, this technology presents an excellent opportunity.