MANAGING FARM AGRO WASTE IN RURAL AREAS: EMERGING POTENTIALS AND CHALLENGES OF BIOCHAR PRODUCTION AND USE AMONG SMALLHOLDERS
2025
Khairul Hisyam KAMARUDIN | Mohamad Fadhli RASHID | Wan Nurul Mardiah WAN MOHD RANI | Noraini OMAR CHONG
The agricultural sector plays a crucial role in driving rural economic growth, with various government agencies at the forefront of rural agricultural development. Programs such as Young Agropreneur, Contract Farms, and Smallholder Assistance significantly aid farmers in cultivating land outside urban areas. In return, agriculture provides employment opportunities and income, ensuring that rural areas continue to function as food producers for both the local community and the growing urban population. The pressure to increase farm production to meet market demand directly raises the amount of waste produced by rural farmers. Consequently, waste management is often a significant issue for rural smallholders. In addition to the lack or absence of appropriate facilities to process agricultural waste, small rural farmers also lack exposure to methods of converting their agricultural waste and manure into biochar, an organic fertiliser. Biochar can help farmers reduce the cost of chemical fertiliser inputs and promote environmentally friendly agricultural practices. This article aims to identify the potential and challenges of biochar application among rural smallholders through a review of literature and by learning from the previous experience of smallholders under a cluster farming program in the Hulu Terengganu district, who utilised biochar for managing farming waste in a sustainable way. The article concludes that with awareness programs and constant supervision by agencies and agricultural experts, the wider usage of biochar for reducing farming input costs for small rural farmers and also encourage environmentally friendly green farming practices can be achieved.
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