Revamping highly weathered soils in the tropics with biochar application: What we know and what is needed

Basak, B. B.; Sarkar, Binoy; Saha, Ajoy; Sarkar, Abhijit; Mandal, Sanchita; Wang, Hailong; Bolan, Nanthi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153461

Cited by 27 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…There is still a clear need to explore the value of biochar across various conditions and settings in the tropics. Biochar may not be always a win-win technology for sustainable water resource management if not well synchronized with agro-ecological conditions of the application location and socio-economic status of the end-users [36]. Specifical, since there are several variables at play around how biochar is made and implemented in agricultural and water management practices, we see a need to align social and environmental benefits of biochar technology with policy decisions (e.g., [36]).…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biochar may not be always a win-win technology for sustainable water resource management if not well synchronized with agro-ecological conditions of the application location and socio-economic status of the end-users [36]. Specifical, since there are several variables at play around how biochar is made and implemented in agricultural and water management practices, we see a need to align social and environmental benefits of biochar technology with policy decisions (e.g., [36]). Through such alignment, with an appropriate understanding of long-term impacts and designing of biochar for conditions, biochar can begin to fulfill its potential to achieve sustainable water management.…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further biochar has been found to improve crop productivity and soil quality consistently through liming and fertilization effects in low pH and infertile soils under low-input conditions typical of weathered tropical soils [36]. There is a need for the reduction of costs of biochar production and application to increase the material's use efficiency need future development.…”

Section: On the Potential For Stacked Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is a need for the reduction of costs of biochar production and application to increase the material's use efficiency need future development. A recent review by Basak et al [36] highlights the need to link economic benefits with social and environmental issues for the successful implementation of biochar technology in weathered tropical soils. Further, they recommend that the identification of biochar properties suitable for tropical soils is important to obtain the maximum benefit of biochar application.…”

Section: On the Potential For Stacked Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, they recommend that the identification of biochar properties suitable for tropical soils is important to obtain the maximum benefit of biochar application. Basak et al [36] pointed out that suitable application strategies and the co-deployment of biochar with other suitable additives provide a promising area for improving the efficiency of biochar for agricultural application.…”

Section: On the Potential For Stacked Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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On the Potential of Biochar Soil Amendments as a Sustainable Water Management Strategy

et al. 2022

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Biochar has been put forward as a potential technology that could help achieve sustainable water management in agriculture through its ability to increase water holding capacity in soils. Despite this opportunity, there are still a limited number of studies, especially in vulnerable regions like the tropics, quantifying the impacts of biochar on soil water storage and characterizing the impacts of biochar additions on plant water composition. To address this critical gap, we present a case study using stable water isotopes and hydrometric data from melon production in tropical agriculture to explore the hydrological impacts of biochar as a soil amendment. Results from our 10-week growing season experiment in Costa Rica under drip irrigation demonstrated an average increase in volumetric soil moisture content of about 10% with an average moisture content of 25.4 cm3 cm−3 versus 23.1 cm3 cm−3, respectively, for biochar amended plots compared with control plots. Further, there was a reduction in the variability of soil matric potential for biochar amended plots compared with control plots. Our isotopic investigation demonstrated that for both biochar and control plots, there was a consistent increase (or enrichment) in isotopic composition for plant materials moving from the roots, where the average δ18O was −8.1‰ and the average δ2H was −58.5‰ across all plots and samples, up through the leaves, where the average δ18O was 4.3‰ and the average δ2H was 0.1‰ across all plots and samples. However, as there was no discernible difference in isotopic composition for plant water samples when comparing across biochar and control plots, we find that biochar did not alter the composition of water found in the melon plant material, indicating that biochar and plants are not competing for the same water sources. In addition, and through the holistic lens of sustainability, biochar additions allowed locally sourced feedstock carbon to be directly sequestered into the soil while improving soil water availability without jeopardizing production for the melon crop. Given that most of the expansion and intensification of global agricultural production over the next several decades will take place in the tropics and that the variability of tropical water cycling is expected to increase due to climate change, biochar amendments could offer a pathway forward towards sustainable tropical agricultural water management.

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Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: On the Potential For Stacked Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: On the Potential For Stacked Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: On the Potential For Stacked Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations