Well to update... did go to brazil a while back, but no terra preta. First of all, the locals only know of tribes of natives called terra preta, there is no common knowledge of the dirt stuff. So I did get my guide to find some research programs going on with studying native soils - but it was all flooded out. under about 10m of water when I was visiting. The one thing I did notice while being near the river is that the land is severly flooded between seasons.
The water factor is a big issue when comparing the soil to Iowa/North America soil. I do not think that jsut adding char to poor soils without the extreme amount of water that is available in Brazil will have the same effect as what is found in Brazil.
About Me
- Randizzle
- Engineer at John Deere ISG in Urbandale, IA. Miscanthus farmer and developer. In my spare time I build pilot scale fast pyrolysis reactors to produce bio-oil and char in Central Iowa as Kasparbauer Bioproducts LLC. Working to develop the final generation of biofuels for energy independence.