Tillage and Biochar Effects on Wheat Productivity under Arid Conditions

Abstract

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.

Effect of tillage, biochar, poultry manure and NPK 15-15-15 fertilizer, and their mixture on soil properties, growth and carrot (Daucus carota L.) yield under tropical conditions

“…Reduced tillage had been reported to improve soil physical properties, such as bulk density, porosity, penetration resistance, water content, aggregate stability, mean weight diameter, dispersion ratio, root penetration, and water and air permeability (Malecka et al, 2012;Celik et al, 2012;Acar et al, 2018). Also, increased crop residue by reduced tillage has been reported (Shahzad et al, 2019), to keep the soil surface cool and reduce soil temperature and loss of water by evaporation. These effects subsequently leads to increased water use efficiency of the crop (Blanco-Canqui et al, 2017;Obour et al, 2018).…”

Secondary and micronutrient application effects on corn fertilized for different yield goals under highly weathered soil conditions

“…As previously noted, most of the initial soil nutrients were above the low threshold of the soil test classification for corn by the University of Georgia Extension (Table 2) (UGA-AESL, 2023), which likely supplied a good amount of nutrients to the crop by the V5 to V7 growth stage. Moreover, the mineralization of the previous crop residues could have supplied additional nutrients (Shahzad et al, 2018(Shahzad et al, , 2019aSintim et al, 2015;Torma et al, 2018) to meet the demand for the crop by the V5 to V7 growth stage, especially for P where the initial soil P was low at both locations. Torma et al (2018) observed that 2-24 kg ha −1 of P could be supplied to the soil by crop residues.…”

Phenotyping of Different Italian Durum Wheat Varieties in Early Growth Stage With the Addition of Pure or Digestate-Activated Biochars

“…Biochar from fruit peels and milk tea waste improved bread wheat growth and grain yield as well as soil fertility status in a field study ( Sial et al, 2019 ). Shahzad et al (2019) observed that biochar application increased bread wheat grain yield, protein content, and total nitrogen uptake compared with plots with no biochar, but they also underpinned that reduced tillage was much more economically profitable than biochar application. Under greenhouse conditions, Bista et al (2019) reported that biochar amendment at rates up to 22.4 Mg ha –1 increased wheat shoot and root biomass, independent of the addition of fertilizer, while a double biochar application rate determined a biomass reduction, particularly under fertilized conditions.…”