Written and Photography by: Deputy Project Manager Xiao Wei

"Can these black lumps really make my land more fertile?" asked Yu Daoli, a villager from Group 3 of Hejiaba Village, holding a piece of dark, shiny biochar with a mix of skepticism and curiosity.

This is no ordinary charcoal; it is biochar produced through the pyrolysis and carbonization of corn stalks.

In October 2025, the Chongqing Farmers’ Club project team traveled to the HPP International Federation (Switzerland)  representative office in Laos for an exchange visit, where they learned an eco-friendly agricultural technique—biochar production. Biochar features a developed pore structure, stable composition, and rich mineral content. It can adsorb pollutants from water, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and effectively improve soil quality.The principle involves heating crop residues under oxygen-limited conditions, causing the unstable organic components to decompose into gases while "locking" the carbon elements and reorganizing them into a stable, porous aromatic carbon solid—this is biochar.

To enhance soil quality, the project team decided to conduct a pilot project in Hejiaba Village. Yu Daoli volunteered to use his own land for the trial.

Guided by the project staff, the villagers first dug a rectangular shallow pit in Yu’s field, then layered dried corn stalks into the pit and ignited them slowly. The key lies in "slow burning"—by controlling the combustion rate, the stalks smolder in an oxygen-limited environment, unlike traditional open burning with raging flames. Only wisps of blue smoke rose, without thick black plumes. Once the stalks were sufficiently carbonized, water was used to extinguish the fire. The originally loose stalks were thus magically transformed into dark, gleaming biochar.

Yu Daoli and the villagers spread the produced biochar evenly across the field. Working together, they chatted and shared their thoughts, their faces filled with curiosity and hope for a better harvest.

"I've farmed all my life and never imagined that these stalks, which we used to find too smoky even for burning, could turn into 'black gold' that nourishes the land," Yu Daoli said with a smile. "I took the lead in trying this biochar pilot because I trust the project and believe these black lumps can make my land more productive."

The smooth progress of this pilot project was made possible by the active participation of the villagers. Moving forward, the project team will regularly monitor the soil quality of the fields where biochar has been applied, scientifically assess its actual effects, and accumulate practical data for future promotion.

Project Introduction:

The  Hejiaba Farmers' Clubs Project in Fengdu County, Chongqing City is implemented by the Chongqing Representative Office of FAIHPP (Switzerland) and the Fengdu County Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Starting from December 1, 2024, the project cycle will take three years. Through the establishment of Farmers’ Clubs and core groups, the project will distribute high-quality rice seeds to villagers to carry out ecological rice pilots, plant fruit trees, raise free-land chicken, organize villagers' training, establish a direct selling cooperative with its own product brand, and build an Internet marketing platform, so as to help villagers develop appropriate productions and drive economic income growth. While fundamentally promoting rural development, the project also pays attention to improving of rural women's self-awareness, mobilizing women's enthusiasm, improving the household environment and promoting the construction of human eco-environment. At the same time, we should develop productions with women as the main force and encourage them to actively participate in the construction of family and rural production activities.

The article only represents the author's personal views.