Impacts of fresh and aged biochars on plant available water and water use efficiency

Aller, Deborah; Rathke, Samuel J.; Laird, David A.; Cruse, Richard M.; Hatfield, Jerry L.

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.08.007

Cited by 101 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Several studies that previously investigated soil water retention in sandy soils after BC addition showed variable results [20][21][22]24,26,[56][57][58][59][60]. The results of the current study clearly indicated that the residence time of BC in soil and the pyrolysis temperature are significant factors in determining effect of BC on water retention.…”

Section: Effect Of Date Palm Residue Biochar Addition On Water Retentionsupporting

confidence: 46%

“…Therefore, positive impact of BC on soil fertility and crop yield is not always certain, and it highly depends on FS, BC production temperature, and most importantly soil type [3,[5][6][7]20].BC benefits to soil also include improvement of soil physical properties. For instance, soil bulk density (BD) and porosity was found to be improved after BC application [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. BC was also reported to increase the soil ability to retain water, and this is mostly attributed to the high total porosity (TP) of BC, retaining water in small pores and thereby increasing water holding capacity and infiltration [5,20,21].…”

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confidence: 99%

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Addition of Biochar to a Sandy Desert Soil: Effect on Crop Growth, Water Retention and Selected Properties

Alotaibi

Schoenau

2019

Agronomy

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Agricultural and environmental applications of biochar (BC) to soils have received increasing attention as a possible means of improving productivity and sustainability. Most previous studies have focused on tropical soils and more recently temperate soils. However, benefits of BC addition to desert soils where many productivity constraints exist, especially water limitations, have not been widely explored. Thus, three experiments were designed using a desert soil from Saudi Arabia to address three objectives: (1) to evaluate the effect of BCs produced from date palm residues added at 8 t ha −1 on wheat growth, (2) to determine the effect of BC addition and BC aging in soil on water retention, and (3) to reveal the effect of BC on selected soil physical (bulk density, BD; total porosity; TP) and chemical (pH; electrical conductivity, EC; organic matter, OM; cation exchange capacity, CEC) properties. The feedstock (FS) of date palm residues were pyrolyzed at 300, 400, 500, and 600 • C, referred to here as BC300, BC400, BC500, and BC600, respectively. The BC products produced at low temperatures were the most effective in promoting wheat growth when applied with the NPK fertilizer and in enhancing soil water retention, particularly with aging in soil, whereas high -temperature BCs better improved the selected soil physical properties. The low-temperature BCs increased the yield approximately by 19% and improved water retention by 46% when averaged across the incubation period. Higher water retention observed with low-temperature BCs can be related to an increased amount of oxygen-containing functional groups in the low-temperature BCs, rendering BC surfaces less hydrophobic. Only the BC300 treatment showed a consistent positive impact on pH, OM, and CEC. Pyrolysis temperature of date palm residue along with aging are key factors in determining the potential benefit of BC derived from date palm residues added to sandy desert soil.crop yield is largely dependent on BC production temperature and the feedstock (FS) [5][6][7]. In a recent review, it was reported that the fertilizing value of BC and its nutrient availability, especially N and P, decrease with increasing pyrolysis temperature [5]. Therefore, the effect of BC on crop yield and plant nutrition was found to be variable, and its use as a sole amendment was not always effective, having its supplementation with mineral fertilizers sometimes necessary to promote crop growth [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Some studies found BC to be the most effective when it is applied with mineral fertilizers [8,14,[17][18][19]. Therefore, positive impact of BC on soil fertility and crop yield is not always certain, and it highly depends on FS, BC production temperature, and most importantly soil type [3,[5][6][7]20].BC benefits to soil also include improvement of soil physical properties. For instance, soil bulk density (BD) and porosity was found to be improved after BC application [20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. BC was also reported to increase the soil ability to retain ...

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Section: Effect Of Date Palm Residue Biochar Addition On Water Retentionsupporting

confidence: 46%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Addition of Biochar to a Sandy Desert Soil: Effect on Crop Growth, Water Retention and Selected Properties

Alotaibi

Schoenau

2019

Agronomy

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“…Biochar application led to increased wheat growth, grain yield, grain quality, total N uptake, and NUE, consistent with the results of previous studies (Alburquerque et al, 2013;Olmo et al, 2014). Application of biochar has been reported to increase the functional groups and cation exchange capacity of soil, which are important properties for NH 4 + and NO 3 − retention, and subsequent reduction in NH 3 volatilization and NO 3 − leaching and runoff (Abel et al, 2013;Aller et al, 2017;Haider et al, 2017). The specific surface area of biochar used in this study was high (2.5 m 2 g −1 ), which may have enhanced N retention.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…Under such conditions, soil amendments with organic materials, such as biochar, could enhance NH 4 + and NO 3 − retention and thus reduce N losses (Abel et al, 2013;Aller et al, 2017;Haider et al, 2017). Biochar is a C-rich solid product produced by pyrolysis under limited supply of O 2 (Lehmann, 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

Tillage and Biochar Effects on Wheat Productivity under Arid Conditions

et al. 2019

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Urea is an important source of inorganic N under wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production system in Multan, Pakistan. However, the average N loss is high, ranging from 22 to 53% of applied N, which poses adverse environmental impacts. Reduced tillage and combined application of biochar and optimal N fertilizer could improve wheat productivity and reduce N losses. We evaluated the effects of two tillage (conventional and reduced tillage), two biochar (no biochar and poultry waste biochar), and three inorganic N rate (0, 60, and 120 kg ha−1) treatments on productivity and economic profitability of wheat production for two continuous growing seasons (2014–2015 and 2015–2016). Generally, reduced tillage increased wheat grain yield, protein content, and total N uptake by 0.2 Mg ha−1, 3.0 kg kg−1, and 37.0 kg ha−1, respectively, when compared with conventional tillage. Biochar application increased wheat grain yield, protein content, and total N uptake by 0.3 Mg ha−1, 6.8 kg kg−1, and 38.6 kg ha−1, respectively, compared with no‐biochar plots. Reduced tillage was economically profitable within the two cropping seasons, but biochar application was not, because of the high price of biochar (US$1.00 kg−1 biochar) and application rate (10 Mg biochar ha−1). Overall, wheat production under reduced tillage, no biochar, and the 60‐kg N ha−1 rate resulted in the greatest economic profit in this study.

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“…Biochar amendment in combination with deficit irrigation increases crop yield and improves water‐use efficiency (Aller, Rathke, Laird, Cruse, & Hatfield, ; Burney & Naylor, ; Jeffery et al, ). For example, Agegnehu, Bass, Nelson, and Bird () found that willow biochar amendment rate of 10 t/ha increased maize yield by 29% while Faloye, Alatise, Ajayi, and Ewulo () reported similar findings with increased maize yields of 56, 68 and 76% after amendment with 3, 6 and 10 t/ha rates of corn cob biochar.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of rice straw biochar and irrigation on growth, dry matter yield and radiation‐use efficiency of maize grown on an Acrisol in Ghana

Danso

Yakubu

Arthur

et al. 2019

J Agronomy Crop Science

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In order to determine whether the current low productivity associated with rainfed cultivation on degraded soils in Ghana can be improved by biochar amendment and irrigation, field experiments with maize were conducted over two seasons in 2017 and 2018. Rice straw biochar at rates of 0 t/ha (B0), 15 t/ha (B15) and 30 t/ha (B30) was combined with irrigation regimes of full irrigation (I100), deficit irrigation (I60) and no irrigation (I0). The I100 treatment was irrigated to field capacity every 3–4 days according to time domain reflectometry measurements while the I60 treatment received 60% of the irrigation amount given to I100 but with the same irrigation frequency. The I0 treatment was not irrigated. In both seasons, the B30 treatment recorded the highest total dry matter yield (TDMY), intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (IPAR) and radiation‐use efficiency (RUE) and these were significantly (p ≤ .05) higher than B0 except for RUE in 2017. Irrigation regimes did not significantly affect TDMY, IPAR and RUE in 2017 but compared to I100, I0 significantly reduced TDMY, IPAR and RUE in the relatively dryer 2018 season. Measured ratio vegetation indices differentiated biochar treatments earlier in the 2018 season than during 2017 and increase of leaf chlorophyll content indices with biochar rate in both seasons indicated that biochar amendment improved nitrogen uptake. Our study demonstrated that rice straw biochar is capable of increasing TDMY, IPAR and RUE of maize grown on degraded soils in Ghana. The study further showed that TDMY, IPAR and RUE of deficit irrigated maize for two seasons were similar to the counterpart fully irrigated maize and may be a viable water management option for farmers in Ghana to save irrigation water resources.

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Impacts of fresh and aged biochars on plant available water and water use efficiency

Cited by 101 publications

References 41 publications

Addition of Biochar to a Sandy Desert Soil: Effect on Crop Growth, Water Retention and Selected Properties

Addition of Biochar to a Sandy Desert Soil: Effect on Crop Growth, Water Retention and Selected Properties

Tillage and Biochar Effects on Wheat Productivity under Arid Conditions

Effect of rice straw biochar and irrigation on growth, dry matter yield and radiation‐use efficiency of maize grown on an Acrisol in Ghana

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