Such power plants will gobble up entire farm biomass and soils will get no organic matter in return for their produce.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has recently sought proposals regarding power production using biomass from four of the world’s most renowned firms. According to studies made in the US, one tonne of dry biomass per hour would be required to produce one megawatt of electricity. It can be easily calculated as to how much biomass (examples of sources are wood, straw, plant debris, dead animals, etc.) would be needed for commercial scale power production. I am not addressing issues raised in the studies regarding the amount of energy required to dry the biomass, etc.
Pakistan’s low productivity of agricultural crops, particularly vegetables and fruits, has many reasons and poor soil condition is one of them. Pakistani soils, in several locations, are deficient in the requisite mineral nutrients that plants require to thrive well and are often extremely deficient in organic matter. Organic matter plays a vital role in making the soil nutrients available for uptake by plants; it increases water holding capacity and provides habitat for soil micro flora. Soil organic matter improves soil texture and makes it porous and easy to till. The agriculture department, in its awareness programme messages to farmers, has tried to convince them to improve soil fertility by adding in farmyard manure, which is a type of manure made by animal or poultry faeces. In addition to that, farmers have been asked to use compost manure, which is prepared by farm trash and plant debris, and green manure made by ploughing of standing green bean crops like Barseem, Janter, etc. It is a universally accepted reality that improving organic matter in soils has resulted in the efficient utilisation of synthetic fertiliser and guarantees improved quality of crops with higher yields. It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan’s soils are predominantly (more than 85 per cent) ‘poor’ or ‘deficient’ in organic matter. The proportion of organic matter is often less than 0.86 per cent in the soil. Only less than one per cent of Pakistan’s soils are ranked as having ‘adequate’ organic matter. Higher cropping intensities and the increasing use of synthetic fertilisers are responsible for the increased rate of depletion of soil organic matter.
It is not rocket science to understand that if we harvest 30 mounds of wheat and straw, almost the double of wheat grain from a piece of land, over 120 mounds of organic matter can be extracted during one season and in return, just a few bags of synthetic fertiliser are added to the soil, which does little do restore the nutrients that have been pilfered away. No wonder our soils are depleting in organic matter at higher rates. The situation is indeed quite worrying.
In such a scenario, the government’s decision to set up power plants, which utilise biomass is something that needs to be reconsidered. Such power plants will gobble up the entire farm biomass and soils will get no organic matter in return for their produce.
Additionally, it would pose a great threat to our forests, range lands, prairies and also our industries. Biomass-based power plants would also be a great threat to Pakistan’s agriculture, which is the backbone of its economy and a big source of rural employment.
It is very important that no development in any sector be made at the cost of the agriculture sector. It would be more appropriate if the decision-makers take all stakeholders on board before taking such decisions in future. Indeed, focusing on measures which improve soil productivity and avoid all projects which threaten agriculture is imperative. The government must not forget that we are still very much an agro-based economy.
Dr Khalid Abdullah
Published in The Express Tribune, February 2nd, 2014.
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