WWW.WAS.ORG • WORLD AQUACULTURE • SEPTEMBER 2019 65 nutrient supplement to plants from water. • Substrate for Biofilter. Biochar removes pesticides and heavy metals by adsorption, making it suitable for use as a substrate in biofilter and effluent treatment systems of shrimp farms. The diversified microbial association property and biofilm formation capacity of biochar makes it suitable for these purposes (Nguyen 2015). • Carbon Sequestration. Biochar can help in global warming mitigation by carbon sequestration and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture fields. Biochar has the capacity to sequester to a level of 12 percent of anthropogenic CO2 equivalent gas per year. Use of biochar in aquaculture can reduce emissions from the system and, hence, contribute to mitigation. More research is needed to evaluate other potential uses of biochar, which has largely remained unexplored. Conclusion Agro-wastes (Fig. 6) are usually considered to be non-useable resources. India produces about 550,000 t of agro-wastes per year that can be successfully converted to biochar for deriving maximum benefit with “waste to wealth” concept. Although the potential effect of biochar application in agriculture is well studied, application in aquaculture is still unexplored. Furthermore, the differential characteristics of biochar from different agro-wastes needs to be scientifically studied for identifying the best potential use. While ensuring several benefits for farming systems, biochar simultaneously ensures a lower environmental footprint by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Hence, the application of biochar in aquaculture field is a future approach for better productivity and sustainability. Notes Chittaranjan Raul*, Sambit Priyadarshi, VIdya Shree Bharati, Satya Prakash, ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, India-400061 * Corresponding author: chittaranjan.aempa801@cife.edu.in References Dahlawi, S., A. Naeem, Z. Rengel and R. Naidu. 2018. Biochar application for the remediation of salt-affected soils: Challenges and opportunities. Science of the Total Environment 625:320-335. Lan, T.T., T.R. Preston and R.A. Leng. 2016. Feeding biochar or charcoal increased the growth rate of striped catfish (Pangasius hypophthalmus) and improved water quality. Livestock Research for Rural Development 28:36-46. Nguyen, T. 2015. Adsorption of Phosphorus From Wastewater Onto Biochar: Batch and Fixed-bed Column Studies. Thesis, Bachelor of Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland. Schmidt, H.P. and K. Wilson. 2012. 55 uses of biochar. ItahakaJournal 1:286-289. Srinivasarao, C., K.A. Gopinath, G. Venkatesh, A.K. Dubey, H. Wakudkar, T.J. Purakayastha, H. Pathak, P. Jha, B.L. Lakaria, D.J. Rajkhowa and S. Mandal. 2013. Use of biochar for soil health management and greenhouse gas mitigation in India: Potential and constraints. ICAR-Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture Publication. Hyderabad, India. Zhang, Y., O. Idowu and C. Brewer. 2016. Using agricultural residue biochar to improve soil quality of desert soils. Agriculture 6:10. FIGURE 4. Agro-waste biochar. FIGURE 5. Biochar used as growing media in an aquaponics plant bed. FIGURE 6. Agro-waste used to produce biochar.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjExNDY=