Biochar Boosts Black Soil Health and Crop Yields, Study Finds

Sep 22, 2025

A long-term field study conducted in Northeast China’s fertile black soil region has demonstrated that biochar can significantly improve soil health, stabilize microbial communities, and increase crop yields—but only when applied at the right rate.

The research, published in Biochar, reveals that a one-time application of biochar at 31.5 metric tons per hectare (t ha⁻¹) led to higher soil organic matter stability, enhanced bacterial diversity, and a 7.11% increase in crop yield. In contrast, higher doses reduced microbial stability and negatively affected soil health.

Black soils are among the world’s most productive agricultural lands, but decades of intensive farming have led to severe degradation, including organic matter loss and soil acidification. Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from biomass pyrolysis, has shown promise in restoring soil quality, but its long-term effects on soil microbial communities and dissolved organic matter (DOM) were poorly understood.

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Video: Democratizing Gene Editing - Pairwise’s Vision for the Future of Agriculture

Pairwise has built its business around an idea that runs counter to how many companies approach innovation: make transformative technology easier to access.

In this Seed World interview, CEO Tom Adams discusses why broader access to gene editing could speed crop improvement, expand innovation opportunities and help agriculture address emerging challenges. He explains why Pairwise believes no single company can solve all of agriculture's problems alone—and why making advanced breeding technologies available to more organizations could accelerate progress across the industry.

The conversation explores how consumer trust influences technology adoption, why innovations like pitless cherries and seedless blackberries matter beyond convenience, and how future crop improvements could help address labor shortages, automation, harvest efficiency and other production challenges. Adams also shares his perspective on what the industry may be underestimating about the next wave of gene editing innovation.

Watch the full interview to hear why Pairwise believes agriculture is approaching an important inflection point for gene editing, and why the pace of innovation over the next decade could surprise the industry.

Topics Covered:

o Democratizing agricultural innovation

o Consumer trust and technology adoption

o The business case for sharing innovation

o Expanding innovation beyond major crops

o Next-generation breeding technologies