Biochar organic fertilizers from natural resources as substitute for mineral fertilizers (original) (raw)
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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.
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.
Sustainability
Recycling and value-added utilization of agricultural residues through combining technologies such as anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis could double the recoverable energy, close the nutrient recycle loop, and ensure cleaner agricultural production. This study assessed the beneficial application of biochar to soil to recycle digestate nutrients, improve soil quality, and reduce conventional chemical fertilizer. The addition of digestate-enriched biochar improved soil quality as it provided higher soil organic matter (232%–514%) and macronutrients (110%–230%) as opposed to the unenriched biochar and control treatments. Maize grown in soil amended with digestate-enriched biochar showed a significantly higher biomass yield compared to the control and non-enriched biochar treatments but was slightly lower than yields from chemical fertilizer treatments. The slightly lower yield (20%–25%) achieved from digestate-enriched biochar was attributed to slower mineralization and release of the ...
The benefits of biochar on soil nutrient retention and maize productivity
2020
Poor soil fertility is one of the major factors contributing to low production and productivity among smallholder farmers mainly due to soil acidity, low nutrient reserves, low nutrient retention and low soil organic matter. The use of biochar technology in crop production has the potential to alleviate these problems. The study aimed at determining the benefits of biochar on soil nutrient retention and maize productivity. The biochar was produce from maize combs by Pyrolysis using the Top Lit updraft kiln. For the effects of biochar on nutrient retention in the soil profile, 50cm length, 8.3cm diameter soil columns, were used to collect soils from Kabwe, Mufulira, Choma and Mungu research stations. The treatments comprised: biochar+fertilizer, fertilizer alone, and control. Biochar and fertilizer application rates were: 2% wt/wt biochar/soil (@40 t/ha) to the top 10cm and 9g (200kg/ha) “D” compound to the top 5 cm, replicated four times. Rainwater was used to leach the soil. The EC...
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
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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
Combination of Biochar with N–Fertilizer Affects Properties of Soil and N2O emissions in Maize Crop
Agronomy
One of the challenges of harnessing higher productivity levels and sustainability of agriculture related to N fertilization is in expanding soil N2O emissions, which has become a serious issue in recent years. Recent studies suggest that biochar may be the solution to this problem, but there is still a knowledge gap related to biochar application rates and its reapplication in Central Europe; therefore, in this study, we investigated the effect of biochar (initial application and reapplication in 2014 and 2018, respectively, at rates of 0, 10 and 20 t ha−1) combined with N-fertilizer (N0—0 kg N ha−1; N1—108 kg N ha−1 and N2—162 kg N ha−1) during the growing season of maize in 2019 (warm temperature with normal precipitation) on the changes of soil properties and N2O emissions in the silty loam, Haplic Luvisol, in the temperate climate of Slovakia. The results showed that the application and reapplication of biochar proved to be an excellent tool for increasing soil pH (in the range ...
Sustainability
Biochar application is reported as a method for improving physical and chemical soil properties, with a still questionable impact on the crop yields and quality. Plant productivity can be affected by biochar properties and soil conditions. High efficiency of biochar application was reported many times for plant cultivation in tropical and arid climates; however, the knowledge of how the biochar affects soils in temperate climate zones exhibiting different properties is still limited. Therefore, a three-year-long field experiment was conducted on a loamy Haplic Luvisol, a common arable soil in Central Europe, to extend the laboratory-scale experiments on biochar effectiveness. A low-temperature pinewood biochar was applied at the rate of 50 t h−1, and maize was selected as a tested crop. Biochar application did not significantly impact the chemical soil properties and fertility of tested soil. However, biochar improved soil physical properties and water retention, reducing plant wate...