Comparative evaluation of rice husk and biochar in natural farming systems
Natural farming focuses on the protection of biodiversity, ecological sustainability, and the crop that does not leave any residue. To achieve this, the use of synthetic agrochemicals is minimized. Rice husk and rice husk biochar are being propo sed to be used as a sustainable soil addition that has environmental benefits. This study will evaluate critically the environmental safety and biodiversity protection of rice husk and biochar in an agricultural system in nature. These are the evaluation of their potential to decrease chemical inputs, increase soil biodiversity and microbial activity. This study is on sustainability indicators that facilitate residue-free agriculture. Under a multi-criteria appraisal, the performance of the two materials on the chosen environmental and ecological indicators was ranked using a five-point Likert scale, Relative Importance Index (RII), and survey on questions in a structured questionnaire by the experts. The ranking indicates that rice husk biochar has greater health benefits in the soil, enhances the positive microbial diversity, and minimizes the environmental issues of chemicals as compared to raw rice husks. Priority is assigned to the reduction of the residues, nutrient preservation, and ecological stability. As studies have shown, rice husk biochar has better sustain-ability effects compared to untreated rice husk in natural farming systems due to its positive impacts on environmental safety, biodiversity preservation, and preconditioning the agriculture of residual-free form. Another environmentally friendly method of utilizing agro-residues and sustainability of farms is biochar transformation of rice husk.