Enhancing phosphorus availability, soil organic carbon, maize productivity and farm profitability through biochar and organic–inorganic fertilizers in an irrigated maize agroecosystem under semi‐arid climate (original) (raw)
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Field Crops Research, 2017
Low and declining soil organic matter contents pose a significant threat to soil fertility, crop productivity and economic returns in arid and semi-arid agroecosystems. Holistic approaches are required to build and sustain soil organic matter in such soils to enhance nutrient use efficiencies and meet food security. Biochar is emerging as an attractive option for multiple benefits to soil-plant systems and carbon sequestration, especially in low fertility soils. We conducted a two-year maize-wheat rotation field experiments during 2015 and 2016 to test the effects of biochar on crop productivity, soil properties and phosphorous use efficiency (PUE) when applied with organic P sources as either farmyard manure (FYM) or poultry manure (PM) and diammonium phosphate (DAP) chemical fertilizer. Biochar was applied at two rates (0 and 10 t ha −1) whereas percentage of organic-inorganic P sources were 0, 25, 50 and 100% respectively. Biochar and manures were incorporated only once at the start of the field experiments whereas chemical fertilizers were applied during each crop cycle. Analysis of the two-year data revealed that biochar and P sources significantly and positively changed crop and soil quality attributes. Application of biochar significantly increased biological and grain yields of maize and wheat, soil organic carbon (SOC), and available nitrogen (N) and P contents without any negative effects on soil pH and electrical conductivity (EC). Addition of 50% P each from organic (FYM or PM) and chemical fertilizer increased biological and grain yields of maize, however, wheat biological and grain yields were higher with 100% PM or FYM in the presence of biochar. SOC and P contents were the highest when biochar was integrated with 100% P from FYM under maize crop. Biochar enhanced PUE from organic P sources more than the chemical fertilizer for both crops. Grain and biological yields of both crops correlated positively with SOC, soil N and soil P contents. We also found strong correlations between SOC, PUE and harvest index (HI) suggesting the benefits of increasing SOC contents under biochar-related integrated nutrient management practices. Overall results from these field experiments indicate potential of biochar to enhance plant nutrition, crop productivity and soil quality in nutrient poor alkaline calcareous soil under maize-wheat cropping system. Long-term farmers' participatory field experiments, however, are required to extrapolate the potential of biochar integrations into current cereal-based cropping systems of Pakistan. (Vagen et al., 2005; Jones et al., 2013). Combating poverty and hunger of an exponentially growing population is a major challenge of agricultural sector in Pakistan (Ali et al., 2015). There is a need of revising the current agricultural management practices with a view of improving nutrient supply, demand and recycling for better farmer income and soil quality (Delate and Camberdella, 2004; Lal, 2013). Recycling of nutrients from organic sources into the soil is a
Field Crops Research, 2016
Declining soil quality is commonplace throughout Southern Asia and sustainable strategies are required to reverse this trend to ensure food security for future generations. One potential solution to halt this decline is the implementation of integrated nutrient management whereby inorganic fertilisers are added together with organic wastes. These organic materials, however, are often quickly broken down in the soil providing only a transitory improvement in soil quality. Biochar, which persists in soil for centuries, may offer a more permanent solution to this problem. To address this, we undertook a 2-year field trial to investigate the interactions of conventional NPK fertilisers with farmyard manure (FYM) and biochar in a maize cropping system. Biochar application to the nutrient poor soil increased maize yields after year one by approximately 20% although the yield increase was lower in the second year (ca. 12.5%). Overall, there was little difference in grain yield between the 25 t ha-1 and the 50 t ha-1 biochar treatments. In terms of soil quality, biochar addition increased levels of soil organic carbon, inorganic N, P and base cations and had no detrimental impact on pH and salinity in this calcareous soil. Overall, this field trial demonstrated the potential of biochar to induce short-term benefits in crop yield and soil quality in maize cropping systems although the long-term benefits remain to be quantified. From a management perspective, we also highlight potential conflicts in biochar availability and use which may limit its adoption by small scale farming systems typical of Southern
FORMULATION OF BIOCHAR BASED FERTILIZER FOR IMPROVING MAIZE PRODUCTIVITY AND SOIL FERTILITY
Incorporation of biochar to agriculture field has the potential to be a primary factor in maintaining soil fertility and productivity particularly in nitrogen and organic matter limiting environments. Clear experimental evidences to support this view, however, are still lacking. Keeping in view the significance of biochar and limited information on its role in crop production, the current experiments were designed to evaluate the potential use of biochar in crop production for 2 years. The experiment consisted of three factors namely: (1) Biochar (0, 25 and 50 ton ha-1), (2) FYM (5 and 10 ton ha-1) and (3) nitrogen (75 and 150 kg ha-1). A control treatment (all at nil level) was included in the experiment for comparison. All the treatments were replicated three time in RCB design at New Developmental Farm of the University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan. As per expectation inorganic N and FYM application increased maize yield in comparison to control. Furthermore, BC treatments increased maize grain ear-1 and grain yield by 21 and 11% over no BC treatments (where FYM and N was applied but no biochar) while caused 29 and 35% in comparison to control respectively. Similarly, maize biological yield was increased by 14 and 39% over no BC and control treatments respectively. Beside crop yield, soil properties like carbon content, N status, Phosphorus, crop N uptake and crop P uptake was significantly increased by BC treatment over no BC treatment. Overall, application of BC showed convincing results as compared to sole application of N and FYM, however, problems associated with BC production in Pakistan are needed to be addressed in future research.
Biochar on Soil Fertility and Crop Productivity
The Agriculturists
An experiment was conducted at the farmer’s field in Shibalaya upazilla of Manikganj district during rabi season of 2017to study the effectiveness of biochar on soil fertility and yields of brinjal and cauliflower. There were five treatments viz. control, recommended inorganic fertilizer (RF), biochar 1 t/ha + RF, biochar 3 t/ha + RF and biochar 5 t/ha + RF laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications. Data revealed that biochar at the rate of 5 t/ha along with RF provided maximum yields of brinjal (67 t/ha) and cauliflower (42 t/ha). The pH, nutrients and moisture contents of the study soils increased and bulk density decreased with the higher rates of biochar application. Significant changes were observed in the total organic carbon in soils which increased by 25 to 41% from the initial levels. Recovery, agronomic and physiological efficiencies of N, P, K and S were found the highest with the application of biochar 5 t/ha. In terms of soil fertility and cr...
Potential of biochar amendment as phosphorus source in tropical paddy soil
Applied chemical engineering, 2023
Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for crop production but its non-renewable natural sources are on the verge of depletion. The few remaining P sources may be depleted in the next 30-50 years. This calls for P recycling strategies with biochar application being an appealing approach. However, very limited information is available on the use of biochar as a P source and how it affects the various P fractions in tropical paddy soils. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish whether biochar could potentially be used as a P source. A sample tropical paddy soil was treated with 1% biochar (derived from maize straw) and/or potassium dihydrogen phosphate, waterlogged and then incubated in airtight amber glass containers at 25 ℃, to mimic tropical paddy soil conditions. Soil aliquots were sampled periodically, followed by extraction and analysis of P fractions. The generated data was subjected to correlation analysis to explore the relationships among the P fractions. The study established that under anaerobic conditions, biochar amendment and P fertilization had no effect on aluminium bound P, calcium bound P, occluded P, moderately labile P and non-labile P. Additional P increased loosely sorbed P but biochar reduced it, even when combined with supplementary P fertilization. It was established that biochar increased iron bound P and to a greater extent with P fertilization. Additional P increased labile P while it was not affected by biochar. Apart from the effect on loosely sorbed P, biochar performed as well as the P fertilizer-or better in case of Fe-bound P. There is therefore promising potential for utilization of biochar as an alternative renewable P source.
Soil Science and Plant Nutrition
Biochar application has been considered as a rich source of carbon which helps to improve the physicochemical properties and fertility of the soil. In Pakistan, excessive use of nitrogen fertilizer is considered a serious problem, so it is of vital importance to examine the effect of biochar on soil with varying doses of nitrogen fertilizer. We hypothesized that addition of biochar to an alkaline calcareous soil could improve not only soil quality and crop yield but also nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), reducing the loss of nitrogen (N) in the form of denitrification, ammonia volatilization, and nitrate leaching. A pot experiment was conducted under 2-factorial completely randomized design having three replications to evaluate the NUE in biochar amended calcareous soil. Biochar was applied at the rate of 0%, 1% and 2% (w/w) in pots filled with 17 kg of soil using various levels of N (0%, 50% and 100% of recommended dose) on maize (Zea mays L.). Several soil quality indicators, uptake, and yield of maize were monitored. Biochar application significantly decreased soil pH, increased water-holding capacity, total organic carbon, maize yield, stomatal conductance, and nitrogen uptake in plant. The results of the study indicated that addition of biochar could not only decrease the use of inorganic fertilizers by improving its quality and yield as in our case biochar at the rate of 1% and N at the rate of 50% provided optimum output minimizing the economic cost eventually.
Sustainability
Enhancing cereal crop production to feed the largely growing population is an important approach towards maintaining food security. Fertilizer management is the major component of crop production requiring special attention for sustainable application. Integrated nutrient management (INM) is an evolving idea, which appears to contribute to sustainable nutrient management. A field study was designed to see the impact of INM on a maize–wheat cropping system during winter (wheat) and summer (maize) season at Agronomic Research Farm, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, Pakistan. Both wheat and maize crops were grown consecutively along with full inorganic fertilizer (NPK) as well as with partial dose of fertilizer (25%, 50%, 75% NPK) supplemented with or without the addition of biochar (5 ton/ha). Data were collected regarding crop growth, yield and quality and further analyzed using MSTAT-C statistics software. Results revealed that the INM approach (75% of NPK + Biochar) enabled cro...
Role of Biochar: In agriculture sector its implication and perspective
Modern agriculture is leading mining of nutrients and reduction in soil organic matter levels through repetitive harvesting of crops. Declining fertility status of soil is now becoming primary concern for growing of the crops. This decline of the soil continues until management practices are improved, additional nutrients are applied, rotation with nitrogen fixing crops is practiced, or until a fallow period occurs allowing a gradual recovery of the soil through natural ecological development. Soil health is the foundation of a vigorous and sustainable food system. Plants obtain their nutrition from organic matter and minerals present in soils. As the land is cultivated, the agricultural process disturbs the natural soil systems including nutrient cycling and the release and uptake of nutrients. As the natural stores of the most important nutrients for plant growth decline in the soil, growth rates of crops are inhibited. The most widespread solution to this depletion is the application of soil amendments in the form of fertilizers containing the three major nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Among these nutrients, nitrogen is considered the most limiting for plant growth. Nitrogen builds protein structures, hormones, chlorophyll, vitamins, and enzymes, and promotes stem and leaf growth. Biochar may be added to soils with the intention to improve the soil health, improve soil fertility, and sequester carbon. However, the variable application rates, uncertain feedstock effects, and initial soil state provide a wide range of cost for marginally improved yield from biochar additions, which is often economically impracticable. The need for further research on optimizing biochar application to improve crop yields.
Agronomy
Several studies have reported that biochar can improve soil properties which are linked with higher crop yields and this effect is long-term. This paper aimed to study the effects of biochar (0, 10 and 20 t ha−1) and its combinations with N-fertilization (zero, first and second level of N-fertilization) after 3 and 4 years of its application on improving soil characteristics of loamy Haplic Luvisol and crop yields (Dolná Malanta, Slovakia). The results indicated an increase in soil pH (+7%), improvement in sorption properties (hydrolytic acidity decreased by 11%, sum of basic cations and base saturation increased by 20% and 5%, respectively) and soil organic carbon rose by 27% with increasing biochar rate in the soil. N-fertilization applied to biochar treatments was a stabilizing moment in C sequestration even in the case of its labile forms. Overall, humus stability and quality were not significantly changed, however in biochar treatments without N-fertilization, the humus stabili...