edited by Coordination Group on Ramial Wood
Department of Wood and Forestry Science
Québec G1K 7P4 QUÉBEC CANADA
Every one involved in agriculture sooner or later comes to the same
conclusion: we must make soil. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides and
ploughing destroy the fertility of the soil; organic farming maintains
its fertility but cannot replace lost soil. The most fertile
agricultural regions were once hardwood forests, especially oak forest.
We now know why and how to hasten nature's work.
HOW IT STARTED
The ramial chipped wood (RCW) story began in the mid-seventies when Mr
Edgar Guay, former Land and Forest Deputy Minister in Quebec began
searching for new products that could be derived from the huge piles of
branches wasted after logging operations. The first field experiments
with deciduous tree trimings were made during the summer of 1978. A
research team nucleus was formed with Mr Lionel Lachance and Mr Alban
Lapointe joining Mr Guay. In 1982, M. Gilles Lemieux, a now retired
professor from the Faculty of Forestry at Laval University, joined the
team to provide answers on the mechanisms involved.
The name and description of «ramial wood» was given in 1986 (Lemieux)
under the French name of «bois raméal». Since the method put forward by
Guay, Lachance & Lapointe (1981) was based on chipping, this «new
material» was then called «Bois Raméal Fragmenté or BRF» in French,
«Ramial Chipped Wood or RCW» in English (1992), «Fragmentiertes
Zweigholz or FZH» in German (1992), «Aparas de Ramos Fragmentados or
ARF» (1993) in Portugese «Ramoscelli Frammentati or RF» in Italian
(1993) «Madera Rameal Fragmentada or MRF» in Spanish (1994): "Ramial
wood" refers to twigs having less than 7 cm in diameter. They contain
soluble or little-polymerized lignin, the base for soil aggregates and
highly reactive humus. These small-size branches are not used as
firewood, even in the poorest tropical countries.
Although fungi are most important for humus formation and cycling, the
humic system performs best when fungi are associated with the fungivore
soil mesofauna. This process, linked to virus, algae and protozoa,
makes nutrients available when needed by plants.
In organic agriculture it is generaly believed that a soil treated for
years with massive doses of chemical fertilizers and pesticides can be
restored in three years with compost and a return to traditional
practices. This belief does not take into account that the diversity of
the molecules and the complexity of the soil ecosystem of the world's
agricultural land has been claimed from the forest.
THE PRODUCTION OF A STABLE HUMUS
There are humic subtances that have a short life (compost and manure)
and
others that have a long life (more than 1000 years). These substances
play an important role in the balance of the soil. The Asian steppes,
the South-American pampas and the North-American prairies, being
covered with herbaceous plants, have a short-life humus. The soil
claimed from hardwood forest has a long-life humus.
In soils farmed intensively with synthetic fertilizers exclusively, a
modified bacterial and mostly fungal biology ends up consuming the
long-life humus of forest origin. By using farm manure or compost in
which the only source of lignin is straw, we cannot hope that humus
having a long life will form massively and stabilize the soil on a long
term. This type of organic amendment brings the soil to a condition
similar to the North-American prairie soils which derived its lignin
from Graminaceae over thousands of years and which have not long
resisted to intensive farming. These soils are now subject to massive
erosion. Only the addition of ramial chipped wood can be viewed as a
mean to return the soil to its former forest origin condition and
restitute, in three years, a long-life humus content.
HUMIFICATION RATHER THAN MINERALIZATION
Misunderstanding of the natural forest ecosystems, especially the
forest soil, is so deep that all silvicultural practices use
agriculture as a model and research has been directed mostly to managed
agricultural systems. In agriculture, as well as forestry, the entire
focus has been placed on mineralization, with little work done on, or
interest shown for, humification which regulates mineralization and
fertility. The lignin of Angiosperms is central to humification and
biological controls of fertility. It has a deep impact on most mesic
soils through the multilevel life they bear.
HOW A FOREST ECOSYSTEM WORKS
A close look at a forest ecosystem shows a fast transformation of plant
tissues into nutrients by soil microorganisms. Nutrients are bound to
the organo-mineral complex and are made available as needed for plant
growth. In temperate forests, under a deciduous tree canopy, this
organo-mineral humic complex is stable within an internal biological
cycle. It becomes fragile under tropical conditions. It has several
roles and therefore must be closely examined.
The basic mechanisms lie in the role played by «white rots» which use
enzymatic systems to produce both fulvic and humic acids from lignin,
the base for aggregate formation (Leisola & Garcia 1989). The best
results are achieved with deciduous trees due the chemical structure of
their lignin. Evergreens perform poorly, due to the transformation of
their lignin by «brown rots» which produce polyphenols and aliphatic
compounds (Swift [1991], Larochelle [1993]).
RESULTS OF WORLD-WIDE EXPERIMENTS
Twenty years of experiments with RCW in both forestry and agriculture
in Québec, Africa, Europe and the Carribeans have provided:
· Better soil conservation due to the water retention capacity of humus
content (up to 20 times its weight) and the capacity of water
accumulation and management by soil organisms;
· An increase in pH from 0.4 to 1.2 or, under tropical conditions, in
alkaline soils, a decrease in the range of 2.0.;
· A yield increase up to 1000% for tomatoes in Sénégal, and 300% on
strawberries in Québec;
· A 400% increase in dry matter for corn in both Côte d'Ivoire (Africa)
and the Dominican Republic (Carribeans);
· A noticeable increase in frost and drought resistance;
· More developed and highly-mycorrhized root systems;
· Fewer and less diversified weeds;
· A decrease or complete elimination of pests (under tropical
conditions, a complete control of root nematodes, the worst and most
costly pest in vegetable garden growing);
· Enhanced flavor in fruit production;
· Higher dry matter, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium content in
potato tubers;
· A soil turning from pale to deep brown in the same season;
· Selective natural germination of tree seeds;
· A thick moder turning into a soft mull under a sugar maple canopy.
SPECIES OF TREES TO USE
Some species are quickly digested (in few months) by the soil, others
take a few years even if they seem to have vanished. Coniferous trees,
in cold and temperate climates, generate a blockage mechanism of soil
pedogenesis. Their lignin, once into the soil, evolves in producing a
great amount of polyphenolic inhibitors. This type of lignin is also
found in many tropical tree species but high soil temperatures break
the inhibitor effect to some extent. In cold and temperate climates,
ramial wood from coniferous species must be avoided or restricted to
20% of the overall content. Coniferous trees are characterized by an
asymetrical lignin (guaiacyl).
Coniferous trees store nutrients in the trunk and eliminate competition
by making the soil unsuitable to competitors. Deciduous trees store
some nutrients in the soil and enhance diversity. This strategy allows
deciduous trees to replace coniferous wherever climate conditions
permit. Deciduous forests are much more stable and long-lasting,
whereas coniferous forests follow cataclysm cycles. When all the
nutrients are blocked, coniferous trees send olfactory messages to
pests that come and destroy the stand, then fire takes over and cleans
all, and nutrients are freed.
Species to be used can be quickly determined on an ecological basis.
Trees that grow in association with the most superior plants are to be
favoured. Rich stands of red oak, sugar maple, beech, yellow birch,
linden and ash give much better results than poor-quality stands such
as red maple or trembling aspen. A mixture of species is suitable and
will give an amendment with positive effects in the short as well as in
the long term.
PARTS OF THE TREE TO USE
The C/N ratio for ramial wood ranges from 30/1 to 170/1 while for
stemwood the C/N ratio ranges from 400/1 to 750/1. Branches under 7 cm
in diameter, without their leaves, are the best choice for shredding.
In the North-American species, essential plant nutrients (N, P, K, Ca,
Mg) increase when branch diameter decreases. These concentrations reach
a minimum in branches over 7 cm in diameter, so branches having less
than 7 cm in diameter contain 75% fertilizing nutrients. The bigger the
branches the less digestible they become. If sawdust, issued from tree
trunks, is mixed with the soil, nitrogen will starve unless the sawdust
is composted with farm manure. The trunk of the tree supports the
branches which are the real biological center for wood production. The
trunk is «dead» and does not allow lignin to be used by enzymes from
microflora and fauna to integrate into the soil. For the forest, the
«dead» trunk is «garbage», attacked from the outside, and transformed
in CO2 with very little benefit to the soil.
For a first treatment, the ramial wood should be without green leaves
because green leaves contain chemical elements easily accessible to
bacteria. These bacteria can prevail over «white rot» (Basidiomycetes).
When leaves are dead, these chemical elements, tied to brown pigments,
will be released through the soil mesofauna activity in perfect harmony
with the «white rot» activity. It must be noted that persons following
these rules have obtained good results.
TOOLS
Chipping or crushing ramial wood is nessaryto permit massive entry of
soil microorganisms without facing the bark barrier. Moreover, chipping
increases the surface of the material which accelerates soil digestion.
In tropical countries, big pieces, grossly chipped with a machete, will
be rapidly digested by the soil.
For a good chipping the cut must be made at an angle of 57° and the
rotation of the blade 12000 RPM for one knife, 6000 RPM for two knives
and so on. It is better to shred the branches lengthwise than cut them
perpendicularly. A second-hand forage harvester could do a good job on
farms. A chipping or crushing apparatus can be custom-made or chipping
devices collectively-owned. Many types of chipping devices can be found
on the market, some can be activated by a farm tractor.
Mechanized chipping is costly in both labor and money. Fifteen hours
are needed to produce enough RCW for one hectare requiring 1503 meters.
This quantity is needed to enhance the quality of the soil and the
crops for the following five years under temperate conditions. A RCW
soil amendment should be perceived as an investment redeemed over a
period of 10 to 15 years.
METHODS
The basic methods called «Sylvagraire» for agriculture and «Sylvasol»
for forestry are better known. They give the best low-cost results. RCW
must not be composted nor ploughed under but spread in a thin layer, a
thickness of one inch being the optimum. The upgrading mechanisms best
perform when RCW is mixed with the first 5 cm of the topsoil. The
fundamental mechanism relies on massive entry of soil microorganisms
into the twigs. Therefore chipping or crushing them is essential.
STORAGE
If it is not spread immediatly after chipping, RCW can be windrowed. If
the pile is too high or too dense, it can induce anaerobic conditions
which are very harmful after a few weeks.
After three months of storage, RCW is seen more as compost and can make
an excellent organic amendment but its chemical constituents and its
impact on the biology of the sol is different from freshly-made RCW.
WHEN TO USE RCW
Under cold and temperate conditions, the autumn period sems to be the
best time to use RCW. Added to the soil, this material, rich in carbon
and poor in nitrogen, may favor nitrogen immobilization by the
microorgnisms during the first few months. When using RCW, this type of
effects can be seen during two months, after which trophic chains are
active and the amount of available nutrients is increasing with time.
Soils treated with RCW in the spring can show sign of nitrogen hunger
during the growing season but this will not be harmful to the
production and will not cause necrosis to the foliage. THIS WILL NEVER
HAPPEN AGAIN IF RCW IS TO BE APPLIED ON THE FOLLOWING YEARS. If RCW is
used as a mulch instead of being disked in, there is no nitrogen hunger
but the integration to cultivated soil will be much slower. The autumn
period favors the spreading of Basidiomycetes. They remain active at
temperatures below freezing whereas bacteria die and massively encyst
during the cold season.
FOREST LITTER ADDITION
Studies have proven that Basidiomycetes are often absent from
cultivated soil and trophic chains are reduced to a minimum. The
several organisms (fungi and symbiotic bacteria, microarthropods,
insects...), found in forest soils and essential to the RCW
transformation, are not found in cultivated fields. They must be
reintroduced with the first application otherwise RCW may not behave
correctly (towards a coaly colour). Migration of some of these
organisms in the soil is sometimes very slow (a few centimeters per
year) and a natural recolonization might take considerable time. To
reintroduce forest soil fungi requires an addition of 10-20 grams of
the forest litter per square meter. This litter can be taken from an
old deciduous climax forest stand or something close to it, at a depth
of 5 cm beneath the dead leaves. The dark brown leafmould should be
harvested just prior to the spreading in order to avoid drying.
QUANTITY TO USE
RCW must not be composted nor ploughed under but spread in a layer not
thicker than 1 5/8 inch, at the rate of 150 to 200 m3/ha. The upgrading
mechanisms perform best when RCW is mixed with the first 5 cm of the
topsoil. This treatment is good for three years in temperate conditions
and it has to be repeated by adding from 10 to 20 m3 on the fourth year
and years after.
INCORPORATION TO THE SOIL
In cultivated fields, it is very important to disk RCW in the first 5
cm of topsoil. The reasons for this surface incorportion are of a
physical and a biological order. In the forest, RCW integration
requires the interrelationship of many organisms. When conditions are
not convenient (which is rare in the forest where a microclimate exists
under the canopy), the organisms will migrate deep in the forest litter
to be protected. In cultivated fields, these migrations do not to
happen because these organisms are vulnerable to dry spells. This
explains why spreading RCW in the forest does not require mixing with
the topsoil.
To favor the multiplication of Basidiomycetes, wood humidity must vary
from 30% to 120%, the optimum being between 60% and 100%.
Basidiomycetes are aerobic fungi located in the first 5 cm of soil and
in close contact with RCW in a moist environment.
RCW vs COMPOST
RCW is a pedogenetic amendment able to optimize or generate a true
soil. This technique must not be mistaken with composting where basic
material comes from diverse organic sources.
The compost is used to feed the life of the soil and bring nutrients to
the plants, while RCW can rebuild and maintain the soil structure,
long-term fertility and soil stability. The composting process results
in the loss of organic materials, but the enzymatic combustion favors
the destruction of polyphenols and pathogenic organisms. With RCW
technology, the organic material goes directly into the soil structure
and reach the trophic chains without any loss.
Mixed with the soil RCW is sufficient because all the necessary
elements are in it. In soils treated with RCW there is no deficiencies.
As stated above, the C/N ratio of RCW varies from 50/1 to 170/1 for
twigs less than 7 cm in diameter. The farmer should not worry about the
C/N ratio once biological action works.
NO PLOUGHING
By ploughing and disking the soil, the life cycles are destructured
and, consequently, the soil improvements with organic amendment are
less than expected.
In a field treated with RCW ploughing should be delayed for three years
in order to prevent deep burrying and provide aerobic conditions
favourable to RCW evolution and Basidiomycetes enzymatic activities.
The RCW material will remain the same after years under anaerobic
conditions in deep soil. One benefit of ploughing is to allow water
savings by breaking pore continuity whereas a soil treated with RCW
will retain enough moisture to prevent dryness. Ploughing, by
increasing the roughness of the soil, could limit washing and erosion;
but RCW, as a humic amendment and a bioactivator, will improve the soil
structure and regulate activity through polyphenolic chemistry. This
structural stability is the most efficient tool for regenerating soils.
RCW AND WORM POPULATIONS
RCW treatments will favor the increase of earthworm populations. In
Quebec, up to two tons of earthworms per hectare can be found in a
natural sugar maple stand. These worms work without harming the root
systems.
RCW AS MULCH
RCW can be used as mulch or, better, on the soil surface. In this way,
RCW is slow to evolve and does not play the same role. It serves as a
mechanical barrier to drying and as a shield against UV rays which are
lethal for the life beneath. It is an ecological niche for forest
insects and other biotas while preventing weed sprouting and
agressivity. It is possible that the long-term effect will be similar
to that of surface disking. Certain farmers prefer the mulching method
because it does not interfere with the life of the soil.
THE MOST CONVENIENT SOILS
Soils constantly wet and cold should be avoided. The anaerobic
conditions do not allow RCW to be involved into a fertile pedogenetic
process. The sandy-silt soils containing a sufficient amount of clay
will benefit best with RCW application. In such soils, the pedogenetic
process is active and efficient. The clay particles favor exchange
complexe and the stocking of nutrients.
RECOMMENDED FARMING PRACTICES
For an agronomist, the RCW technology is a very useful farming
practice. A good way to proceed with very low productive soil is to
disk in the RCW material in the fall and, the following spring , sow a
cereal-hay mixture, i.e. a legume (white clover or alfalfa) that can
trap nitrogen. The first crop is cereal and the following two years hay
crop is harvested. Later potatoe crops can be grown easily.
CONCLUSIONS
Branches and brushes were always seen without value for centuries and
as trash in the modern forest economy that has developed during the
last century. A first assessment
of small branch production shows a mere 100 million tons per annum for
Québec alone and probably billions of tons throughout the world.
Small-diameter branches can be transformed into a «soil food». Feeding
soil microfauna and microflora is more likely to bring mid- and
long-term benefits to both agricultural and forest ecosystems in
redeeming costs and increasing benefits. RCWs represent the only
large-scale upgrading technology. It involves a large number of shrub
and tree species resulting in variable responses, all positive with
regard to enhancement of the humic system. RCWs bring the benefits of
the forest soil to the agricultural soil at the lowest possible cost
[Lemieux, 1993].
Agricultural land was «extracted» from the forest. The forest can now
help degraded soils by keeping them alive and microbiologically
diversified. Ramial chipped wood is a good tool available to all
societies, even the poorest, to reverse soil degradation and
desertification. As we are now aware of the major role of RCWs upon the
formation of a highly reactive humus system, our attitude toward the
forest will have to change. Instead of depleting our natural forests as
we now do to grow commodity trees, we must grow «forest ecosystems» and
treat them like perennial gardens. From an enemy, the forest must
become a friend. From a resource to be exploited for immediate profit,
it must become the source of infinite wealth.
RCWs must be carefully looked at in both the southern and the northern
hemispheres. More than 75% of nutrients are stored in twigs. Twigs are
the center of life, stemwood being the result of the whole crown
activity. Twigs, once chipped and brought in close contact with the
soil, momentarily replace the rootlets that are constantly transformed
into short-lived aggregates by the soil microorganisms. These
aggregates are the managers of soil nutrients and energy for the
ecosystem's own sake. They enable biological actors to play their vital
role, from virus to mammals, using available energy and nutrients. It
is of prime importance to understand and visualize the whole picture
and the role played by each actor in this wonderful evolution of
nature's work from which we now benefit after so many millions of years.
Time has come for large-scale worldwide organizations to deal with
planetary problems. RCWs are the key to understanding the biological
basics of our terrestrial ecosystems. There is no doubt concerning the
value of RCWs and their positive impact in pedogenesis, which is a
universal process. This universal biological material will have a
direct effect in the short term as well as in the long term on soil,
crops, economy and on both human and animal societies. It will be seen
as one of the most important biotechnological contributions of this
century [Lemieux (1993)].
[permaculture] REGENERATING SOILS WITH RAMIAL CHIPPED WOOD,
mIEKAL aND, 09/11/2004