Bio-Char Soil Management on Highly Weathered Soils in the Humid Tropics

Lehmann, Johannes; Rondón, Marco Antonio

doi:10.1201/9781420017113.ch36

Cited by 304 publications

(228 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…The weak improvement in productivity from sawdust applications and the much greater improvement of productivity as a response to biochar additions suggests that these two organic materials act very differently in soil despite their similar C-to-N ratios. This could be related to the greater decomposability of sawdust which may lead to N immobilization in contrast to biochar as explained above, to greater nutrient retention by biochar (Liang and others 2006), or to biological effects that have been hypothesized to occur in biochar-amended soils (Lehmann and Rondon 2006;Warnock and others 2007). Recalcitrant organic materials typically have more substantial long-term benefits through their contributions to SOM (Palm and others 2001;Lehmann and others 2001).…”

Section: Chemical Stability Versus Nutrient Delivery Of Organic Amendmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An observed improvement in CEC, pH, and base saturation (Table 4) may have played a role at some sites, although to a limited extent. Additional possible explanations that were not tested here include effects of biochar on plant-available soil water or microbial populations and dynamics (Lehmann and Rondon 2006), which would need to be verified.…”

Section: Chemical Stability Versus Nutrient Delivery Of Organic Amendmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reversibility of Soil Productivity Decline with Organic Matter of Differing Quality Along a Degradation Gradient

et al. 2008

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In the highlands of Western Kenya, we investigated the reversibility of soil productivity decline with increasing length of continuous maize cultivation over 100 years (corresponding to decreasing soil organic carbon (SOC) and nutrient contents) using organic matter additions of differing quality and stability as a function of soil texture and inorganic nitrogen (N) additions. The ability of additions of labile organic matter (green and animal manure) to improve productivity primarily by enhanced nutrient availability was contrasted with the ability of stable organic matter (biochar and sawdust) to improve productivity by enhancing SOC. Maize productivity declined by 66% during the first 35 years of continuous cropping after forest clearing. Productivity remained at a low level of 3.0 t grain ha -1 across the chronosequence stretching up to 105 years of continuous cultivation despite full N-phosphorus (P)-potassium (K) fertilization (120-100-100 kg ha )1 ). Application of organic resources reversed the productivity decline by increasing yields by 57-167%, whereby responses to nutrient-rich green manure were 110% greater than those from nutrient-poor sawdust. Productivity at the most degraded sites (80-105 years since forest clearing) increased in response to green manure to a greater extent than the yields at the least degraded sites (5 years since forest clearing), both with full N-P-K fertilization. Biochar additions at the most degraded sites doubled maize yield (equaling responses to green manure additions in some instances) that were not fully explained by nutrient availability, suggesting improvement of factors other than plant nutrition. There was no detectable influence of texture (soils with either 11-14 or 45-49% clay) when low quality organic matter was applied (sawdust, biochar), whereas productivity was 8, 15, and 39% greater (P < 0.05) on sandier than heavier textured soils with high quality organic matter (green and animal manure) or only inorganic nutrient additions, respectively. Across the entire degradation range, organic matter additions decreased the need for additional inorganic fertilizer N irrespective of the quality of the organic matter. For low quality organic resources (biochar and sawdust), crop yields were increasingly responsive to inorganic N fertilization with increasing soil degradation. On the other hand, fertilizer N additions did not 726improve soil productivity when high quality organic inputs were applied. Even with the tested full N-P-K fertilization, adding organic matter to soil was required for restoring soil productivity and most effective in the most degraded sites through both nutrient delivery (with green manure) and improvement of SOC (with biochar).

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Section: Chemical Stability Versus Nutrient Delivery Of Organic Amendmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Chemical Stability Versus Nutrient Delivery Of Organic Amendmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reversibility of Soil Productivity Decline with Organic Matter of Differing Quality Along a Degradation Gradient

et al. 2008

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“…Moreover, biochar is also considered to be highly effective in the restoration of the fertility of soils. Many researches confirmed that the use of biochar leads to the improvement of the soil productivity [7]. The extraordinary properties and benefits of the use of biochar are not only limited to only to the area which was disturbed for obtaining biomass to generate bio energy but it has the ability to remain persistent in the soils for almost two to three years [9].…”

Section: Improving Soil For Crop Productionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…It has the ability to aid in coping up with the greenhouse gases (GHG) and is helpful for carbon sequestration [7,8]. Various evidences and studies showed that the utilization of biochar can be extremely useful for the improvement of Soil organic Carbon [9], capacity of water holding [10,11], stimulating soil microbes, increasing the microbial activity and biomass [12], decreasing in needs and leaching of fertilizers, availability and retention of nutrients, soil aeration [13,14], bettering the growth and yield of crop growth as well as reducing the fluxes of greenhouse gases through anthropogenic activity and increase in sequestering carbon [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits of Biochar on the Agriculture and Environment - A Review

Rehman¹,

Razzaq²

2017

J Environ Anal Chem

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“…Recently, Joseph et al (2013) and Novak and Busscher (2013) introduced tailor-made and designer biochars having specific properties adapted to their potential use. Despite the uncertainty about exact mechanisms of improvement, biochar has been most successful at improving crop yields on highly weathered soils (Crane-Droesch et al 2013;Liu et al 2013;Schulz et al 2013;Jeffery et al 2011;Lehmann and Rondon 2006;Cornelissen et al 2013;Obia et al 2016). Highly weathered soils are typical for humid (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%