Biochar is sterile, odorless, high carbon solid that can be produced from a variety of organic feedstock. Soil application of biochar can reduce the overall total BD of the soil which is desirable for most plant growth and increased WHC. Nutrient availability can be affected by increasing CEC, altering soil pH, or direct nutrient contributions from biochar. The soil fertility of course texture is poor, so biochar application improved soil fertility of sandy loam soils, especially soil having low O.C., CEC, available P, exchangeable K, Ca, Mg and increased nutrient uptake resulted in increased in crop yield.
• Application of corn stover biochar @ 10 t ha-1 along with RDF increased DM and CP yield, chlorophyll content and plant height (at 30 and 60 DAS) as compared to CB and PJ biochars and FYM.
• Nutrient uptake like P, K, Ca, Mg, S and Cu were significantly increased with the application of RDF+MS10 while in case of uptake of N and Mn were significantly increased in RDF+MS5.
• RDF+MS10 was found most effective in obtaining significantly higher DMY and CPY and larger removal of nutrients from the soil and found beneficial for built up nutrients in soil. It also showed significantly higher CEC and OC content in sandy loam soil.
• Application of RDF+MS5 significantly increased DMY and CPY content of forage corn crop which ultimately resulted in larger removals of nutrients from the soil.
Biochar preparation and effect of biochars on corn growth, yield , nutrient uptake and soil sustainability
1.
2.
3.
4.
5. Sustainable biochar is produced from waste biomass
using modern thermo-chemcial technologies. Addition
of sustainable biochar to soil has many environmental
and agricultural benefits, including waste reduction,
energy production, carbon sequestration, water
resource protection, and soil improvement. Therefore,
the use of sustainable biochar as a soil amendment is
an innovative and highly promising practice for
sustainable agriculture.The properties of various
biochars were characterized. A field experiment was
conducted to find out the efficacy of different biochar
and effect on soil fertility. This study conducted with
two biochars produced from agricultural wastes
materials and one from Prosopis juliflora wood biochar.
as a soil amendment in poor sandy loam soils of Kheda
district of Gujarat state.
24. • Soil application of RDF+MS10 biochar recorded the highest DMY
(94.40 q ha-1) and it produced significantly higher yield than other
treatments. However, it was at par with RDF+MS5 (92.89 q ha-1) and
RDF+FYM10 (88.94 q ha-1).
•The second effectiveness of biochar was cluster been stover (CB)
and RDF+CB10 produced significantly higher DMY (84.88 q ha-1) than
others but it was followed with RDF+CB5 (84.07 q ha-1).
• The third in order was Prosopis juliflora wood biochar along with
fertilized treatments. The fourth in order was fertilized treatment along
with FYM (RDF+FYM5) which gave higher DMY (68.44 q ha-1) but it was
at par with RDF+PJ10 (62.40 q ha-1).
•The application of MS, CB and PJ biochar either applied @ 5 or 10 MT
ha-1 in absence of fertilized failed to produce higher DMY and these
treatments recorded significantly lower DMY than combined
application of fertilized with all the type of biochars.
•Application of either biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly
increased 3 times higher plant height of corn plant at 60 DAS than
application of similar biochar or FYM without RDF which resulted in
decreased in DMY of corn.
39. Fig 18 Application of Prosopis juliflora wood biochar @ 10
MT/Ha along with RDF (RDF+PJ 10 MT/Ha) showed taller
plant height and produced 2.62 times higher DMY (62.4
q/Ha) than alone soil application of Cluster bean stover
biochar @ 5 MT/Ha (23.79 q/ha).
RDF+CB5 MT/HaAC+PJ 5 MT/Ha
Prosopis juliflora wood
biochar @ 10 MT/Ha +RDF
Cluster bean stover
biochar @ 5 MT/Ha
40. Fig. 19 Effect of biochar on N uptake (kg/ha) in presence
and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer on corn
crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly increased N
uptake by 3 to 4 times as compared to similar type of three biochars or FYM without
RDF.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
34.27
45.52
34.42 31.2
25.34
30.65 29.00
48.68
124.8
120.79116.96116.06
86.15
90.82 93.79
124.44
Nuptake(kgha-1)
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
41. Fig. 20 Effect of biochar on P uptake (kg/ha) in presence
and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer on corn
crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly increased P
uptake by 4 to 4.5 times as compared to similar type of three biochars or FYM without
RDF.
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
3.44
4.55 4.16 4.04
3.01 3.49
2.39
3.76
17.96
19.07
17.6816.99
11.62
13.01
10.58
14.65
Puptake(kgha-1)
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
42. Fig. 21 Effect of biochar on K uptake (kg/ha) in presence
and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer on corn
crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly
increased K uptake by 2.5 to 4 times as compared to similar type of three
biochars or FYM without RDF.
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
33
46
34 36
25 25 24
36
131 133
97
122
64
76
82
132
Kuptake(kgha-1)
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
43. Fig. 22 Effect of biochar on Ca and Mg uptake (kg/ha) in
presence and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer on
corn crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly increased Ca
and Mg uptake as compared to similar type of three biochars or FYM without RDF.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
AC+MS5
AC+MS10
AC+CB5
AC+CB10
AC+PJ5
AC+PJ10
AC+FYM5
AC+FYM10
RDF+MS5
RDF+MS10
RDF+CB5
RDF+CB10
RDF+PJ5
RDF+PJ10
RDF+FYM5
RDF+FYM10
9.25
11.97
10.6 9.66
6.7
9.03 9.47
13.88
43.63
46.02
40.1640.32
29.630.35
33.79
37.21
Ca uptake
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
AC+MS5
AC+MS10
AC+CB5
AC+CB10
AC+PJ5
AC+PJ10
AC+FYM5
AC+FYM10
RDF+MS5
RDF+MS10
RDF+CB5
RDF+CB10
RDF+PJ5
RDF+PJ10
RDF+FYM5
RDF+FYM10
6.667.01
5.845.47
4.49
5.626.12
9.82
35.52
37.34
35.9835.22
22.72
24.81
22.1
29.62
Mg uptake
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized
44. Fig. 23 Effect of biochar on S uptake (kg/ha) in presence
and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer on corn
crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly
increased S uptake by 3 to 4.5 times as compared to similar type of three biochars
or FYM without RDF.
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
6.22
8.69 8.09 7.62
4.35
5.86 6.81 7.75
28.23
30.21
28 28.56
18.5617.97
15.83
21.55
Suptake(kgha-1)
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
45. Fig. 24 Effect of biochar on zinc uptake (g/ha) in
presence and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer
on corn crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly
increased Zn uptake by 3 to 3.5 times as compared to similar type of three
biochars or FYM without RDF.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
96
122
103 100
81 76
94
134
380
361 352 345
268
243
274
385
Znuptake(kgha-1)
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
46. Fig. 25 Effect of biochar on Fe uptake (g/ha) in presence
and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer on corn
crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly
increased Fe uptake by 3 to 4 times as compared to similar type of three biochars
or FYM without RDF.
0
500
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
3500
738
933
811 817 748 670 765
1041
2906 2834
2701 2717
2213 2141
2307
3030
Feuptake(kgha-1)
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
47. Fig. 26 Effect of biochar on Mn and Cu uptake (g/ha) in
presence and absent of recommended dose of fertilizer
on corn crop
Application of three type of biochars or FYM along with RDF significantly
increased Mn and Cu uptake by 3 to 4 times as compared to similar type of three
biochars or FYM without RDF.
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
85.69
130.3
114.5120.86
71.52
83.9483.01
122.68
364.36
348.57
327.56328.29
238.61244.88241.43
294.42
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
AC+MS5
AC+MS10
AC+CB5
AC+CB10
AC+PJ5
AC+PJ10
AC+FYM5
AC+FYM10
RDF+MS5
RDF+MS10
RDF+CB5
RDF+CB10
RDF+PJ5
RDF+PJ10
RDF+FYM5
RDF+FYM10
12.69
13.46
9.069.59
7.997.77
10.56
16.02
45.39
54.7
42.52
44.95
24.87
30.28
36.63
42.09
Treatments
Fertilized treatmentUnfertilized treatment
Mn uptake Cu uptake
53. Sr.
No.
Unferilized
Treatment
DTPA Fe
(mg kg-1)
Sr. No.
Fertilized
treatment
DTPA Fe
(mg kg-1)
1 AC+MS 5 7.56 9 RDF+MS5 11.06
2 AC+MS 10 7.04 10 RDF+MS10 9.99
3 AC+CB 5 7.40 11 RDF+CB 5 9.20
4 AC+CB10 7.31 12 RDF+CB10 8.95
5 AC+PJ 5 7.32 13 RDF+PJ 5 8.30
6 AC+PJ10 6.70 14 RDF+PJ10 8.26
7 AC+FYM 5 6.98 15 RDF+FYM 5 7.90
8 AC+FYM10 7.77 16 RDF+FYM10 8.17
CD (0.05) 1.46
Application of RDF+MS5 recorded significantly higher DTPA extractable Fe in soil
(11.06 mg kg-1) after harvest of corn crop than other treatments followed by
RDF+MS10 (9.99 mg kg-1). In the descending order of the effectiveness of the
treatments, were RDF+CB5 and RDF+CB10. Fertilized biochar treatments RDF+MS5,
RDF+MS10 and RDF+CB5 were highly effectiveness in increasing DTPA extractable
Fe in soil by 46.29 %, 41.90 % and 24.32 % as compared to AC+MS5, AC+MS10
and AC+CB5, respectively.