Early evidence for the benefits of biochar in organic regenerative agriculture.

L Kohl, E-M L Minarsch, W Niether, B A Dix, C Kammann, J C Clifton-Brown, A Gattinger

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

0citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

L KohlDepartment of Agronomy and Plant Breeding II, Organic Farming with Focus on Sustainable Soil Use, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany. lucas.kohl@agrar.uni-giessen.de.

E-M L MinarschDepartment of Agronomy and Plant Breeding II, Organic Farming with Focus on Sustainable Soil Use, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.

W NietherDepartment of Agronomy and Plant Breeding II, Organic Farming with Focus on Sustainable Soil Use, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.

B A DixDepartment of Agronomy and Plant Breeding II, Organic Farming with Focus on Sustainable Soil Use, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.

C KammannDepartment of Applied Ecology, Hochschule Geisenheim University, Geisenheim, Germany.

J C Clifton-BrownDepartment of Agronomy and Plant Breeding II, Crop Biomass and Bioresources, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.

A GattingerDepartment of Agronomy and Plant Breeding II, Organic Farming with Focus on Sustainable Soil Use, University of Giessen, Giessen, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Enhancing soil carbon stocks is important to improve soil quality, but also plays a crucial role in mitigating climate change. The potential of innovative approaches such as regenerative farming practices for increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) needs to be explored. A randomized block experiment was established on an organic farm in Hesse, Germany, to assess the effects of different regenerative agricultural (RA) practices on SOC stock changes over a period of three years (2020-2023). The treatments included minimum tillage combined with cover and nurse crops (RA), RA practices plus the incorporation of biochar (BC) at 30 cm depth with a subsoil loosening device (RABC) and conventional soil cultivation with ploughing and moderate cover cropping as a control. In the beginning and at the end of the experiment, intact soil cores were extracted down to 100 cm depth with a percussion corer and divided into five depth increments for analysis to evaluate changes in SOC stocks. The RABC treatment resulted in the highest increase in native SOC (+ 2.24 Mg C ha

Indexed as

AgricultureCharcoalOrganic AgricultureSoilCarbonClimate ChangeCrops, AgriculturalGermanybiocharCarbonCharcoalSoilBiocharCover cropsReduced tillageRegenerative farmingSoil organic carbon

Identifiers

PMID41741552

DOI10.1038/s41598-026-40280-5

PMCPMC12953692

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LicenceCC BY

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.