Salinity and acidity have affected several hundred million hectares of land throughout the globe which poses a major threat to global food security and biodiversity. Application of organic amendments for salt-affected soils has been identified as one of the most effective ways to mitigate salinity-induced problems and considered as a green technique offering twin benefits of waste load reduction and land reclamation. However, studies on reclaiming acidic-salt affected soils are limited. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the reclamation potential of biochars and organic amendments involving Gliricidia sepium biochar produced at 300 °C, 500 °C, and 700 °C, green waste compost, and municipal sewage sludge at three different amendment ratios, 1.0%, 2.5% and 5.0%. The incubation experiment was conducted for a 4-month period with different amendment ratios applied to the coastal acidic-salt affected soil. Subsamples were extracted from incubation pots after 1 and 4 months and analyzed for soil chemical parameters (pH, EC, NO 3 − , PO 4 3− , total organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, sodium adsorption ratio, exchangeable sodium percentage) and microbial enzyme activity (catalase activity, and acid-and alkaline phosphatase activity). All organic amendments demonstrated enhancement of the soil properties in a significant manner. However, increasing incubation time and amendment ratio increase the changes of soil parameters by a great percentage. Therefore, the maximum amendment ratio of 5.0% and 4 months of incubation period rendered a significant improvement in the reclamation of acidic-salt affected soil. However, the biochar produced at 500 °C contributed the maximum towards the improved physicochemical and biochemical profile of acidic-salt affected soil, making it the most promising organic amendment for the reclamation of acidic-salt affected soil. The overall reclamation efficiency of organic amendments registered the following order of variation: 700 BC < Sludge < 300 BC < Compost < 500 BC.

Purpose This study was conducted to evaluate the synergistic effects of organic amendments and soil water status on trace metal release from serpentine soil. Materials and methods Two organic amendments, dendro-biochar (BC) and municipal solid waste compost (CM), were added to serpentine soil at four different ratios, specifically 2.5:0.0, 2.5:1.0, 2.5:2.5, and 2.5:5.0% (w/w). Along with the control (with no organic amendments), each soil treatment was incubated separately under saturated point (SP) and field capacity (FC) water content for 10 days. Subsamples were obtained from each treatment to analyze the bioavailable trace metal concentration and related edaphic parameters, namely total organic carbon (TOC), nitrate (NO 3 −), phosphate (PO 4 3−), and cation exchange capacity (CEC). Then, the soil solution was eluded from each treatment and incubated for 10 days under permanent wilting point (PW). Furthermore, a seed germination test was performed under the different treatments. Results and discussion Significant reductions (p < 0.05) in bioavailable concentration of all four trace metals were observed in all the amendment ratios under all water status treatments (SP, FC, SP-PW, and FC-PW), compared with the control. Furthermore, FC-PW with the highest amendment ratio (2.5% BC:5.0% CM) reduced Ni by 67.6%; FC-PW with 2.5% BC + 2.5% CM immobilized Mn and Co by 92.1 and 96.9%, respectively, and SP water status with all four amendment ratios immobilized 100% of bioavailable Cr. Maximum amendment ratio under all four water status enhanced %TOC and significantly increased PO 4 3− concentration in SP-PW. However, FC showed comparatively high NO 3 − concentration than other treatments. Germination index (GI) for mung beans and tomato did not show a significant difference in response to amendment ratios or soil water status; however, SP treatment expressed significantly high seedling vigor (SVI) for mung beans. Conclusions Treatments of BC and CM effectively immobilize the bioavailable fraction of trace metals in serpentine soils. Increasing amendment ratio increases the %TOC regardless of the soil water status, whereas SP-PW is favorable for the availability of PO 4 3− , and FC is favorable for availability of NO 3 −. The GI for mung beans and tomato seed was not influenced by the soil water status nor by the amendment ratios. However, the SVI of mung bean seedlings was controlled by the soil water status.

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