Use of biochar for soil fertility improvement is gaining popularity due to its potential to improve soil quality, increase crop yield, and sequester carbon from the atmosphere-biosphere pool into the soil. A 40-day pot experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of corncob biochar and compost applied alone (at a rate of 2%, w/w) or in combination (1% of each, thus 1% compost + 1% biochar) on soil physicochemical properties, growth, and yield of maize on two soils of contrasting pH and texture collected from the Rainforest and Coastal Savannah agroecological zones of Ghana. Biochar and compost applied alone or in combination significantly increased soil pH, total organic carbon, available phosphorus, mineral nitrogen, reduced exchangeable acidity, and increased effective cation exchange capacity in both soils. Additionally, combined application and single application biochar or compost additions increased the plant height, stem girth, and dry matter yields of two maize (local ("ewifompe") and hybrid (Obaatanpa)) varieties used in the study. e study showed that biochar applied alone or in combination with compost offers the potential to enhance soil quality and improve maize yield.
The topsoil gets seriously damaged during mineral extraction. The consequences of physical disturbance to the topsoil during stripping, stockpiling and reinstatement results in soil degradation through loss of soil structure, accelerated soil erosion, excessive leaching, compaction, reduced soil pH, accumulation of heavy metals in soils, depletion of organic matter, decreased plant available nutrients, reduced cation exchange capacity, decreased microbial activity and consequent reduction in soil fertility. Management of topsoil is important for reclamation plan to reduce nutrient losses and eventually restore the fertility. Revegetation constitutes the most widely accepted and useful way to improve the fertility of degraded mined lands. A review was conducted to assess the contribution of revegetation to improvement of soil fertility of mined lands. The results obtained in this study indicate that revegetation through forest vegetation is one of the efficient means of restoring soil fertility through improvement in soil organic matter content, available nutrients, cation exchange capacity, increased biological activities as well as improvement in physical conditions of the soil. However, it will require longer periods to restore the fertility as closely as possible to the original level. The efforts to rehabilitate mined lands have focused on N-fixing species of legumes, grasses, herbs and trees. Some of the promising tree species that can be used for revegetation are Acacia, Leucaena and other legume trees that are acid-tolerant and can add substantial amount of organic matter to the soil. Long term revegetation using legume species of high metal accumulation and are acid tolerant should therefore be considered in mining areas.
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