Effects of corn straw biochar application on soybean growth and alkaline soil properties

Abstract

Pot experiments were conducted to investigate the impact of biochar loading level on soybean growth and physico-chemical properties of alkaline soil. Biochar derived from corn straw was mixed with alkaline soil at 0%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10% loading levels and exposed to the natural elements. Soybean was used as the test crop. The results indicated that a single application of biochar positively and significantly improved soybean productivity and quality attributes of the tested alkaline soil. Soybean yield peaked at 5% loading level, but it declined at 10% loading. Applications of biochar at 5% and 10% loading significantly increased total soil porosity by 4.14% and 5.09%, and decreased the soil pH value by 0.07 and 0.24 units, respectively. Biochar addition significantly increased water holding capacity, total organic carbon content, total nitrogen, Olsen-P, available potassium, and cation exchange capacity. The results indicated that applications of corn straw biochar to alkaline soil improved soybean growth and promoted the physico-chemical properties of alkaline soil. However, the negative effects of increased C:N ratios and soil exchange sodium percentages at higher biochar loading levels should be taken into account when applying biochar as amendments to alkaline soils.

Moderate sewage sludge biochar application on alkaline soil for corn growth: a field study

“…The soil pH was in dynamic equilibrium and showed insignificant variation during corn growth. This is because soil pH is controlled by the leaching of basic cations (Ca, Mg, K, and Na), the release of H + from carbonic acid produced by CO 2 dissolution, organic matter humification, and the input and output of N (Liu et al 2020;Neina 2019). However, a small amount of SSB application could not markedly increase the pH of the alkaline soil because of its high background level, indicating that the current SSB amount is reasonable because higher soil pH may have adverse effects on plant growth and PTE availability (Artiola et al 2012).…”

“…The Pearson correlation coefficient shows the degree of correlation between different factors and is widely applied in soil research. Liu et al (2020) analyzed the correlation of soil characteristics with soybean growth and yield parameters and found that pH and available nitrogen had a greater impact on the growth of soybean under alkaline soil conditions. Wu et al (2020b) used this method to analyze soil properties, mineral nutrients, and fruit quality.…”

“…Currently, the application of biochar for soil remediation is an attractive method with numerous benefits. For example, the porosity of biochar can increase the water-holding capacity and decrease the bulk density of soil, which increases vegetable productivity and reduces irrigation frequency (Liu et al 2020). Functional groups such as -COO − and O − in the surface of biochar can react with H + in soil to improve the buffering capacity of soil (Wu et al 2020b).…”

“…In northern China, where corn is the main crop, most soils are alkaline, containing NaCO 3 and NaHCO 3 . Low water retention and organic matter levels also restrict the development of local agricultural production (Liu et al 2020), and SSB may have a positive effect in alkaline soils because of its pore structure, functional groups, and nutrients. However, based on a field soil study considering the volume and cost of biochar, 5-10 wt% SSB (~ 100,000 kg/ hm 2 ) is not practicable (Kocsis et al 2020;Zhang et al 2016).…”

Biochar increases rice yield by improving root morphological and root physiological functions in heavily saline-sodic paddy soil of Northeast China

“…The physicochemical and biological characteristics of salt-affected soils have been shown to be improved by biochar (Chaganti and Crohn 2015;Ali et al 2017;Wei et al 2020). The role of biochar alleviating the salt-affected stress and promoting crop growth has been attributed directly through the provision of mineral nutrients for crop growth, and indirectly through lower soil bulk density (Akhtar et al 2015;Liu et al 2020b), improved soil stomatal density (Yang et al 2014), and increased osmotic coefficient by enhancement of the K availability for higher K + / Na + ratio (Abrishamkesh et al 2015;Chakraborty et al 2016). The authors' previous research found that biochar could reduce the adverse effect of saline-sodic stress, increase dry biomass and yield, and improve quality of rice largely due to the high adsorption capacity of biochar to Na + and the cell membrane damage improvement (Ran et al 2020;Yao et al 2021).…”