Water productivity, yield and agronomic attributes of maize crop in response to varied irrigation levels and biochar–compost application

Abstract

BACKGROUND Due to the rapid increase in world population, the demand for freshwater is increasing day by day. There is also immense pressure on the agriculture sector to produce more food with limited supplies of water. About 75% of freshwater is used in crop production out of which 63% is lost due to poor farm practices and evapotranspiration. Enhancement of crop water productivity for sustainable agriculture production especially in areas having water scarcity plausibly contributes towards the solution of water scarcity. RESULTS The combined application of biochar and compost has a highly significant impact on maize yield with increased grain production, i.e. 6.44 and 6.52 t ha−1 at 60% irrigation level with combined application of biochar and compost as compared with control at 6.39 and 6.44 t ha−1 at 100% irrigation level in autumn and spring seasons, respectively, by saving 40% of water. Furthermore, the highest value of water productivity (1.51 and 1.16 kg m−3) was achieved at 60% irrigation level with combined application of soil amendments. Also, cost–benefit analysis has shown highest values of net benefit with soil organic amendments. CONCLUSIONS It is concluded that addition of biochar and compost to soil has the potential to increase crop yield and growth even at low irrigation levels by enhancing water use efficiency. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry

Impact of Biochar and Phosphogypsum Addition on Soil Physical Properties, Physiological Traits and Productivity of Maize under Water Deficit Conditions

“…Results showed that the use of a mixture of PG and BC improved the soil's hydrophysical and chemical properties, resulting in less evapotranspiration losses, making water available for crops for a longer period which protecting the crop against water stress and consequently, increasing WUE and WP. Our results concur with (Faloye et al, 2020, Bossolani et al, 2021 andZahra et al, 2021). Studies show that BC has a high porosity and surface area which leading to an increase in the general soil porosity and water content, reducing water stress for plants (Batista et al, 2018).…”

Sandy soil reclamation technologies to improve crop productivity and soil health: a review

“…Furthermore, organic amendments provide labile carbon sources that stimulate microbial growth and activity, leading to enhanced nutrient cycling and plant growth. Organic amendments have been demonstrated to have positive effects on maize grain yield when applied independently (114) or in combination with biochar (115).…”

Impact of single biochar application on maize growth and water-fertilizer productivity under different irrigation regimes

“…In this study, the increase in SOM was mainly attributed to the high organic carbon content of poorly pyrolyzed biochar ( Table 2 ). Moreover, biochar has positive priming effects on soil microbial activity and root growth ( Danso et al., 2019 ; Zahra et al., 2021 ), both of which may regulate SOM turnover, since more microbial activity could accelerate SOM mineralization. The SOM under the W15 regime was higher than that under the W35 regime for the same biochar amendment, which showed that a greater amount of irrigation and soil moisture were more beneficial to the formation of SOM for these two studied years.…”