Growth, Seed Yield, Mineral Nutrients and Soil Properties of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) as Influenced by Biochar Addition on Upland Field Converted from Paddy

Abstract

Sesame is an important oilseed crop cultivated worldwide. However, research has focused on biochar effects on grain crops and vegetable and there is still a scarcity of information of biochar addition on sesame. This study was to assess the effect of biochar addition on sesame performance, with a specific emphasis on growth, yield, leaf nutrient concentration, seed mineral nutrients, and soil physicochemical properties. A field experiment was conducted on an upland field converted from paddy at Tottori Prefecture, Japan. Rice husk biochar was added to sesame cropping at rates of 0 (F), 20 (F+20B), 50 (F+50B) and 100 (F+100B) t ha −1 and combined with NPK fertilization in a first cropping and a second cropping field in 2017. Biochar addition increased plant height, yield and the total number of seeds per plant more in the first cropping than in the second cropping. The F+50B significantly increased seed yield by 35.0% in the first cropping whereas the F+20B non-significantly increased seed yield by 25.1% in the second cropping. At increasing biochar rates, plant K significantly increased while decreasing Mg whereas N and crude protein, P and Ca were non-significantly higher compared to the control. Soil porosity and bulk density improved with biochar addition while pH, exchangeable K, total N, C/N ratio and CEC significantly increased with biochar, but the effect faded in the second cropping. Conversely exchangeable Mg and its plant tissue concentration decreased due to competitive ion effect of high K from the biochar. Biochar addition is effective for increasing nutrient availability especially K for sesame while improving soil physicochemical properties to increase seed yield, growth and seed mineral quality.Agronomy 2019, 9, 55 2 of 20 (13.5%), ash (5%) [2], and mineral components, such as K (815 mg/100 g), P (647 mg/100 g), Mg (579 mg/100 g) and Ca (415 mg/100 g) [3]. This contributes to its health and nutritional benefits. Therefore, demand for sesame seeds is increasing due to the increasing knowledge on their dietary and health benefits, but there has been limited research on sesame evidenced by low yield in most growing areas hence hampering its adoption and expansion in the world [4]. Although sesame has been reconsidered a local specialty crop in Japan [5], the production of sesame is still low. For instance, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 2016 estimated that 11 tons of sesame seeds were produced from an area of 21 hectares [6]. With the increase in abandoned paddy fields estimated at 360,000 ha by the year 2010, farmers were encouraged to convert such fields into cultivation of upland crops, such as wheat and soybeans [7,8], including sesame. However, crop yield on upland fields converted from paddy may decrease due to declining soil fertility status of the paddy soils that could require soil amendment with organic materials [9].Biochar is a soil amendment produced from thermal decomposition of organic materials through pyrolysis and it has the potential to increase crop yields [10,11]....

ACC Deaminase Producing PGPR Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Agrobacterium fabrum along with Biochar Improve Wheat Productivity under Drought Stress

“…Biochar (BC) is an organically active soil amendment with very high soil pore volume and cation exchange capacity and has been reported to reduce drought stress in plants [31][32][33][34]. Biochar is a nutrient-rich, black carbon soil amendment [35] that is produced through pyrolysis of waste feedstock at high temperature [36] under anaerobic or partially anaerobic condition [37][38][39].…”

Growth and K Nutrition of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Seedlings as Affected by Balancing Soil Exchangeable Cations Ca, Mg, and K of Continuously Monocropped Soil from Upland Fields Converted Paddy

“…Although we did not focus on other benefits of biochar, this could be attributed to the biochar increasing other nutrients such as N, apart from the large quantities of K than inorganic fertilizer, detoxifying phytotoxic compounds from continuously monocropped soils and thereby improving sesame seedling growth [16,35]. Furthermore, the high CEC of the biochar and the increase in soil CEC in the biochar balancing treatment is an indicator of nutrient retention for sesame growth suggesting that rice husk biochar could improve soil nutrient status in continuous monocropping [16]. Therefore, the rice husk biochar addition could be recommended for improving sesame growth to alleviate the imbalances in soil exchangeable cations on continuously monocropped soils where K is a limiting factor.…”

“…Biochar is a soil amendment produced from thermal degradation of organic materials through the process of pyrolysis and can supply a high amount of potassium [14,15]. Recently, we reported that rice husk biochar improved sesame growth through increasing soil exchangeable K and improving K nutrition on an upland field converted paddy in Japan [16]. However, there is lack of information on the use of biochar material and inorganic fertilizers to balance soil exchangeable cations in deteriorated soils from continuous monocropping fields.…”

Fatty Acid Composition of Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) Seeds in Relation to Yield and Soil Chemical Properties on Continuously Monocropped Upland Fields Converted from Paddy Fields

“…Despite the importance of sesame seeds, the production of sesame in Japan had been on a negligible scale although it is gradually increasing, especially on abandoned paddy fields [5,6]. However, we previously reported yield decline of sesame on upland fields converted from paddy fields under intensive continuous monocropping as a result of changes in soil nutrient availability [7].…”