The Charcoal Maker

It is a kind of charcoal made from rice husks.  It's main usage is to improve soil texture and serves as a conducive habitat for good bacteria. It can also be used for mulching and helps stabilize or control the temperature of the ground.

But what facility you're going to use to get this product?  Click here to view this simple innovation.

How to make husk charcoals with Charcoal Maker

1. Fill the Charcoal Maker with rice husks and at the top, with flammable materials like newspaper as a fire source.  Of course, set fire on it.

2. Close the cover and make sure that the fire keeps on going by watching the smoke coming out from the chimney.

3. If the dumper is automatic wait for 48 hours. or;

4. If the dumper is not automatic, after about 8 hours, and when you see fire reaching to the dumper, close it, and wait until the husks turned to charcoal and cooled down. That's all. Very simple!

5. Store the charcoal in any container. i.e., sacks.

Charcoal Vinegar

While making charcoals, there is a very important by-product: Charcoal Vinegar.  Because of its nature of being very acidic, it is just called vinegar.

The best quality of charcoal vinegar is made from bamboo which is very popular in Japan.  You can find most of it in the supermarkets of Japan. For home consumption, vinegar from rice husks are not as good as bamboo charcoal vinegar.  But for agricultural purposes, it is good enough. 

How to make Charcoal Vinegar

In the Charcoal Maker, make a small hole on bottom side of the chimney.  In the process, the smoke passes through the chimney.  When it cools down, it forms some liquid particles that came down through the hole.  Collect such liquid with a small bucket hanging at the end of the chimney. Keep the liquid in tank and wait for more than 4 months to settle the tar. Or mix it with charcoal to make the tar stick to the charcoal. Use only the clean portion of the liquid.

How to use Charcoal Vinegar

There are many uses of Charcoal Vinegar in agricultural field.

As fumigator.  Dilute it with water in this amount, 1:100.

• Apply to the leaves of trees or vegetables.  It can control fungus infestations.

• To kill harmful insects, mix it with pesticides (for foliar spraying, the solution should be more than 1:300).  In this way, you can reduce the use of commercial pesticides by more than 50%. 

• When applied to soil, it kills harmful bacteria, fungus and nematodes.

• If sprayed to pigpens or poultry houses, it reduces dramatically the foul odor of the place.

As accelerator.

• If applied to leaves, it should be more than 1:1000 to act as foliar fertilizer.

• Spray the ground as a fertilizer.

• When feed to pigs and chickens, it reduces their smells and help the animals make healthy digestion.

• It can also be used to make compost to accelerate fermentation.  Sometimes, the fermentation process goes so fast that you have to keep watch of its timing.  Simply add water and mix if necessary.

Note:  When you intend to mix the vinegar with feeds, it should be of good quality. How to get it?  Here's the procedure:

1. Collecting good quality vinegars requires patience and the right timing.

2. In the process of making charcoals, white smoke comes out from the chimney.  This kind of smoke contains a lot of water.  Simply eliminate this.

3. When you see smokes of dark color coming out, that  is the time that you have to collect the vinegar.

4. After about 24 hours, the smoke becomes of purplish color.  It contains so much tar (like a coal tar), so before the smoke turn to this color, stop collecting.

Poultry  |  Piggery  |  Charcoal & Vinegar Maker