Biochar and Compost Increase Crop Yields but the Effect is Short Term on Sandplain Soils of Western Australia

Abstract

(Received , 201; revised , 201) ABSTRACT Sandplain soils on the south coast of Western Australia have low inherent fertility, which is mainly due to poor nutrient retention caused by insufficient clay and organic colloidal material. Previous research has shown the benefits in nutrient levels and retention from adding clay to sandplain soils; however, there is almost no information on the addition of organic amendments. A field experiment was established at the Esperance Downs Research Station, \\Testern Australian, in March 2010, to assess the effects of wheat straw (WS) and chicken manure (C:tvi) biochars and compost with and without phosphorus (P) addition on soil properties and crop production over i five growing seasons. The five seasons alternated between winter and summer crops. The~· and compost treatments significantly G'H :> W S\ increased crop yields and P uptake in 3, 2 and 1 of the five seasons, respectively. The yield increases (P < 0.05) were no more than 8%. By the end of the third season, no differences in crop yields were found that could be attributed to the organic amendments. The addition of P increased crop yields in each winter cropping season. Phosphorus addition explained more than 30% of the variation in crop yields. Despite marginal P levels and summer drought conditions, arbuscular mycorrhizal root colonisation was not affected by the organic amendments. There were no significant interactions between the organic amendments and P addition in terms of crop yields, P uptake or P uptake efficiency. Vl/e conclude that much of the effect of the organic amendments was due to direct nutrient addition which dissipated over time.

The Benefits of Biochar on Rice Growth and Yield in Tropical Riparian Wetland, South Sumatra, Indonesia

“…For instance, biochar produced at different temperatures varied in their effect on N uptake by Eruca sativa (Zhou et al, 2017) and on growth of lettuce (Hunter et al, 2017). High temperature during pyrolysis increased stability of biochar in soil (Mašek et al, 2013), but had short-lived effects on crop yields (Hall and Bell, 2015;Griffin et al, 2017). Moreover, Hagner et al (2016) reported that pyrolysis temperature only marginally influenced biochar-induced effects on soil pH, water holding capacity (WHC), soil organisms, and plant growth.…”

Effect of Animal ByProducts Fertilization on Durum Wheat in Mediterranean Conditions: Preliminary Results

“…Likewise, Fecondo et al [ 27 ] found that the use of 40 Mg ha −1 of compost significantly increased durum wheat yields in comparison with mineral fertilization in rotation with tomato. Other studies confirm the positive effect of compost on bread wheat yields in Australia [ 29 ] and in Italy by comparing the effects of organic commercial fertilizers and compost on durum wheat yields in an organic agriculture context [ 30 , 33 ]. In the light of existing literature, the preliminary results presented in this study seem to open the way to the replacement of ordinary N-fertilizers with no detrimental effects on durum wheat yield, at least in the Mediterranean rainfed cereal–forage cropping systems.…”

“…While several studies on the influence of biowaste compost [ 27 ], composted sewage sludge [ 28 ] and biochar [ 29 , 30 ] on durum wheat have been carried out, to our knowledge no similar studies have been published about the fertilization effect of BFAs on durum wheat.…”

Banana Stem Bokashi and its Effect to Increase Soybean Yield (Glycine max L. Merrill) in Coastal Sands Area

“…Coastal sand has sufficient groundwater resources, and is not affected by floods and can be utilized throughout the year for crop cultivation [11]. However, coastal sand land has the main constraints of low nutrient availability both macro and micro nutrients [12,13] as well as low nutrient storage ability [14]. In order to support the success of soybean cultivation in coastal sand, besides using adaptive soybean cultivar (genotype), it also requires production input in the form of organic matter.…”