Benefits of biochar, compost and biochar–compost for soil quality, maize yield and greenhouse gas emissions in a tropical agricultural soil

Agegnehu, Getachew; Bass, Adrian M.; Nelson, Paul N.; Bird, Michael I.

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.054

Cited by 586 publications

(317 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…For instance, significant increment (by 37.9%) in P uptake as compared to control treatment was observed in co-application of compost and biochar (1.0% w/w C) and treated with 100% fertiliser rate. According to Khan and Joergensen (2012) and Agegnehu et al (2016), the incorporation of biochar and compost in soil could potentially improve P availability and significantly stimulate P uptake by ryegrass and maize plant, respectively. This was probably due to biochar's liming effects that decreased P fixation by Al and Fe oxide in the soil (Yuan and Xu 2011;Cui et al 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar-compost mixture as amendment for improvement of polybag-growing media and oil palm seedlings at main nursery stage

Radin

Bakar

Ishak

et al. 2017

Int J Recycl Org Waste Agricult

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Purpose Production of oil palm seedling in the nursery mainly utilises top soil as polybag medium. These soils, especially in tropical regions, are acidic and have low organic matter content. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) biochar and compost incorporation as amendment in polybag medium for oil palm seedlings growth at the nursery stage. Methods A polybag experiment was conducted with four biochar rates (0, 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5% w/w C addition), two compost rates (0 and 30% v/v), and two fertiliser application rates (75 and 100% of recommended rate). The effects of biochar, compost, and biochar-compost combination on oil palm seedling growth was evaluated and the effectiveness of EFB biochar in retaining soil nutrients was determined indirectly by measuring amount of nutrient leached through the polybag medium. Results Biochar, compost, and biochar-compost amendment improved polybag media's chemical properties (pH, total C and N, C:N ratio, CEC, Mg, and Ca). There were no significant effects of the amendments on shoot biomass. However, root growth and shoot:root ratio significantly improved with 1.5% w/w C addition and 30% (v/v) compost with 75% recommended fertiliser rates applied. Furthermore, nutrient leaching measurement indicates that, EFB biochar significantly reduced ammonium-N leaching up to 21-46%. Conclusions Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of biochar and compost co-application to improve the chemical properties of polybag medium and root development of oil palm seedlings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar-compost mixture as amendment for improvement of polybag-growing media and oil palm seedlings at main nursery stage

Radin

Bakar

Ishak

et al. 2017

Int J Recycl Org Waste Agricult

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“…Numerous studies have investigated carbon residence time in soil, as in charcoal form ("biochar") [5] and [6]. Biochar is the product obtained from pyrolysis of various biomasses.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Tropical Soils Amended with Poultry Manure and Sugar Cane Straw Biochars

Novais¹,

Zenero²,

Frade³

et al. 2017

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Increases in greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, upon changes in land use and agricultural management, lead to a search for techniques that enhance carbon residence time in soil. Pyrolysis increases the recalcitrance of organic materials and enhances their activities as physical, chemical and biological soil conditioners. Emissions of CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O quantified from a sandy soil that was treated with three rates (12.5, 25 e 50 Mg•ha −1 ) of either non-pyrolysed poultry manure and sugarcane straw or biochars, pyrolysed at two contrasting temperatures (350˚C and 650˚C). Subsequently, the flux of the three gases was converted and compared in a standard unit (CO 2 eq). The added biochars, significantly reduced GHG emissions, especially CO 2 , relative to the non-pyrolysed materials. The greatest differences between applied rates of poultry manure, relative sugarcane straw, both to biochar and raw material, and the positive response to the increase of pyrolysis temperture, confirm the importance of raw material choice for biochar production, with recalcitrance being an important initial characteristic. Greater emissions occurred with intermediate rate of biochars (25 Mg•ha −1 ) amendment to the soil. These intermediate rates had higher microbial biomass, provided by an intermediate C/N ratio derived from the original soil and the biochar, promoting combined levels of labile C and oxygen availability, leading to an optimal environment for microbiota.

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“…It typically contains 40-75% carbon (C), characterized by porous structure, large surface area, and high ion exchange capacity (Lehmann and Joseph, 2009). Application of biochar to saline soils will help to improve soil nutrient content (de la Rosa et al, 2014;Tian et al, 2016), enhance water retentionfertilizer conservation capacity (Gray et al, 2014;El-Naggar et al, 2015;Bass et al, 2016), and promote crop growth (Lashari et al, 2013;Liu et al, 2014;Agegnehu et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temperature and moisture responses to carbon mineralization in the biochar-amended saline soil

Sun

Zhang

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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• Cumulative C min increases with biochar added and incubation temperature.• The temperature rise reduced the turnover time of C pools and Q 10 . This study assessed the effects of temperature and moisture on carbon mineralization (C min ) in a saline soil system with biochar amendment. The dynamics of C min were monitored in a biochar-amended saline soil for 220 days by incubation experiments under different conditions of temperature (15°C, 25°C and 35°C) and moisture (30%, 70% and 105% of the water-holding capacity). Results showed that as the incubation temperature rose, cumulative C min consistently increased in soil added with 0-4% biochar. The two-compartment model could well describe the dynamics of C min . The temperature rise increased the concentration of labile C in soil, but reduced the turnover time of labile and recalcitrant C pools and the value of temperature coefficient Q 10 . The response of C min to moisture was varying in soil amended with different levels of biochar. In the control treatment (soil alone), cumulative C min increased only when soil moisture was N105%. In the biochar treatments, however, 70% of waterholding capacity was optimal for C min , except for 2%-biochar treatment at 35°C. The findings highlight the necessity to consider the combined effects of soil moisture, temperature and the amount of biochar added for assessing C min in biochar-amended saline soils.

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Benefits of biochar, compost and biochar–compost for soil quality, maize yield and greenhouse gas emissions in a tropical agricultural soil

Cited by 586 publications

References 68 publications

Biochar-compost mixture as amendment for improvement of polybag-growing media and oil palm seedlings at main nursery stage

Biochar-compost mixture as amendment for improvement of polybag-growing media and oil palm seedlings at main nursery stage

Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Tropical Soils Amended with Poultry Manure and Sugar Cane Straw Biochars

Temperature and moisture responses to carbon mineralization in the biochar-amended saline soil

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