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

Abstract

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.

Growth and metabolic activities of cowpea seedlings exposed to artificial pond wastewater-treated soil

“…One among other several methods that have the potential of boosting the ability of the world to feed itself amidst the progressive increase in world population and the decreasing available agricultural lands is increasing the yield and productive capacity of the available agricultural lands . Soil and crop improvement method that is able to preserve satisfactory physical and chemical conditions of the soil is essential for increased productivity to meet global food demand (Golabi et al 2004;Hussain et al 2017;Radin et al 2018). Artificial pond wastewater is organic manure .…”

Surface-applied or incorporated biochar and compost combination improves soil fertility, Chinese cabbage and papaya biomass

“…They also provided more P (0.75 times) and K (0.79 times) than the fertiliser for the Andisol. The compost component of the combination was more likely to contribute the most available nutrients (Liu et al 2019;Radin et al 2018). At harvest, the soil N was higher in the amended 0-10 cm soil for the papaya trials, but was not consistent for the Chinese cabbage trials.…”

“…The increase in soil pH, which was associated with improved nutrient availability, may have contributed to increased plant biomass (Berek et al 2018;Slavich et al 2013;Van Zwieten et al 2015). The increase of 0.4-1.1 pH units found for IBC in the 0-10 cm layer was anticipated due to the liming effects of biochars (Bass et al 2016;Berek et al 2018;Doan et al 2015;Liu et al 2012;Radin et al 2018). The increase in soil pH after application of an alkaline biochar is thought to be attributed to the biochar's high base cation content, alkalinity and its capacity to decrease exchangeable Al and H (Brassard et al 2019).…”

“…Plants grown in biochar and compost amended soils were deemed more effective at accessing and using nutrients than that the controls (Agegnehu et al 2016a;Berek et al 2018;Manolikaki and Diamadopoulos 2019;Schulz and Glaser 2012). This is likely due to the additional nutrients supplied by the amendments, improved nutrient availability from the increased soil pH, increased soil organic matter content, water-holding capacity and reduced nutrient leaching (Agegnehu et al 2015(Agegnehu et al , 2016bCao et al 2018;Ghosh et al 2015;Liu et al 2012;Radin et al 2018). It is suggested that these Hawaiian soil properties improved (and plant biomass increased) due to their initial low fertility, acidic pH and coarse texture, as the amendments addressed these specific limitations (Jeffery et al 2017).…”

Performance of Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea L. Verdc.) with rice husk biochar and Christmas Island Rock Phosphate application

“…The research was conducted at the Crops for the Future (CFF) Research Farm, Semenyih, Selangor Malaysia (Latitude 2.931083, Longitude 101.878323 at 42 m above sea level). The soil at the site is Ultisols (Rengam soil series, a clayey, kaolinitic, isohyperthermic Typic Paleudult) (Fardeau and Zapata 2002;Radin et al 2018). The investigation was conducted from February to June 2015 (first trial) and repeated from August to December 2015 (second trial).…”