Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said that one of the most important agendas of his government has been to ensure improvement of income of the farmers with various interventions at different levels to increase the production of the farmers. Speaking at the inauguration of the Biochar Plant at Eastern Ri Bhoi Organic FPC Processing Plant at Umsli in Ri Bhoi district on Monday, Sangma said, “It is important to add value to the products of the farmers through multiple activities from improving the health of the soil, providing timely quality seeds, supporting with working capital etc and each of these interventions require different schemes, projects and missions.”
Biochar is produced by heating bamboo or other organic biomass at high temperatures in a low-oxygen environment. The result is a stable, carbon-rich material that locks carbon away for years instead of releasing it back into the atmosphere as the biomass rots. Referring to the Biochar Plant, the Chief Minister said that the plant would have multiple benefits adding, “The soil condition of our state which is acidic, the heavy rainfall that we receive, and the abundance of bamboo makes the production of biochar a feasible proposition.” He said the two pyrolysis units are very powerful ways of locking the carbon in the process of carbon sequestration.
He further stated that the by-products of the biochar plant in the form of bio-oil or synthesis gas (syngas) could be further used in many ways and which are environmentally beneficial. The Biochar Plant is a first of its kind community focussed carbon removal initiative converting sustainably harvested biomass into biochar for permanent carbon storage and thereafter the carbon revenue shall be shared with farmers and local institutions. The project costs Rs 1.5 crore with a capacity of processing 1 tonne bamboo per day converting approximately 30 percent into biochar. ICAR-NEH, Umiam will carry out biochar testing, farmer training, capacity building, and periodic Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) monitoring.
The project is being implemented by Compliance Kart in partnership with Ri Bhoi FPC having the potential to remove 6000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the next 20 years and generate a total revenue of Rs 12 crore. About 250–300 community members in Khasi Hills and Garo Hills are to be directly benefited through these two units— bamboo harvesters, machine operators, farmers applying biochar, and those sharing in carbon revenues representing a solution that connects agriculture, environment and economy. The Chief Minister and other dignitaries also released reports of Bamboo Resource Assessment and inventory of aeronaut and Other Horticultural Species during the occasion.