Biochar as a Soil Ameliorant: How Biochar Properties Benefit Soil Fertility—A Review

Beusch, Christine

doi:10.4236/gep.2021.910003

Cited by 27 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 145 publications

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“…Our study showed that the soil fertility index (SFI) does not seem to be affected by increased doses of mineral fertilizers, although they may be associated with environmental risks such as water pollution ( [25] [27] [28]). However, many research results shown that bio-fertilizers, due to their richness in organic matter and exchangeable bases [29], are very beneficial in improving the soil fertility index as suggested by our results. This suggests that there is a real opportunity to valorize these alternative sources of organic matter (bio-waste or Biochar) [29] and subsequently sequester carbon in order to contribute to GHG reduction.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…However, many research results shown that bio-fertilizers, due to their richness in organic matter and exchangeable bases [29], are very beneficial in improving the soil fertility index as suggested by our results. This suggests that there is a real opportunity to valorize these alternative sources of organic matter (bio-waste or Biochar) [29] and subsequently sequester carbon in order to contribute to GHG reduction. However, the challenge of the sanitary side effect of bio-waste must be mastered upstream, through advisory support, to preserve the quality of food and the health of farmers (handling) and consumers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

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Drivers of the Chemical Quality of Market Gardening Soils in the Urban and Peri-Urban Environment of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso): Impact of Fertilizers Sources and Sites Location

Kambire¹,

Sangaré²,

Ouédraogo³

et al. 2023

JACEN

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Urban and peri-urban agriculture plays a key role by providing many goods and services. In particular, it provides diversified food and employment for vulnerable groups (youth and women). However, it often involves negative externalities due to non-conventional soils fertility management practices. This study aimed to investigate the chemical quality of soils over six (06) sites of the market gardening area of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) as affected by fertilizers uses and sites location. Thirty (30) representative market gardening farms, located in urban, semi-urban and rural areas, were randomly selected from a baseline survey database. Within each farm, composite soil samples made up of 3 individual cores were taken over the 0 -15 cm soil depth for determining soils carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus contents and pH-water. These data were normalized and summarized to compute a synthetic Soil Fertility Index (SFI). The data processing was focused on a Principal Component Analysis and an Ascendant Hierarchical Classification in order to make a typology of the vegetable farms. Fertilizers management effects on soils quality were compared through Variance Analysis (ANOVA) following a GLM procedure in Rstudio software. As main results, soils chemical parameters, except for available K, were affected by the location of the sites. Soils in urban farms are less acidic (on average pH = 6.9), while semi-urban and rural sites (Samadeni, Nakaguana) have more acidic soils. However, the latter site had the highest values of C and N. Moreover, the long-term application of organic matter sources results in improving of the chemical quality of the market garden soil.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Drivers of the Chemical Quality of Market Gardening Soils in the Urban and Peri-Urban Environment of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso): Impact of Fertilizers Sources and Sites Location

Kambire¹,

Sangaré²,

Ouédraogo³

et al. 2023

JACEN

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…In the recent decade, scientists have viewed biochar as a modifier and guarantee of soil sustainability due to its adsorption properties (Kamali et al, 2022). The improvement of plant productivity through biochar use is due to its porous structure and ability to retain water (Asadi et al, 2021; Beusch, 2021), nutrients (Ghorbani et al, 2019), and limit the absorption of pollutants such as heavy metals by plant roots (Amirahmadi et al, 2020). The literature has the deterioration of structural properties of biochar to boost its efficiency and rapid environmental stability (Deng et al, 2020; Ghorbani et al, 2021; He et al, 2019; Li et al, 2017; Mia et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta‐analysis on the impacts of different oxidation methods on the surface area properties of biochar

et al. 2022

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Biochar has a beneficial impact on agricultural prosperity, according to numerous studies, and the key dispute presently is how to maximize that impact. Biochar oxidation is well‐known as one of the accepted methods for increasing biochar efficiency. However, due to contradictory data presented in studies and because biochar is derived from diverse oxidation procedures, as well as, the lack of an analytical comparison between different methods, oxidation data sets require a thorough assessment that can be covered by meta‐analysis. In this study, the effects of the five most common oxidation methods in the literature, namely oxidation by acids, alkaline, metal oxides, physical, and natural oxidation, on the cation exchange capacity (CEC), micro‐pores (MP), specific surface area (SSA), and oxygen‐content functional groups (OFGs) of biochar, were meta‐analyzed. When pyrolysis conditions varied, the efficiency of various operations was also addressed. The most efficient method was acidic oxidation, which increased CEC, SSA, MP, and OFGs by 46%, 43%, 55%, and 72%, respectively. Additionally, increasing the pyrolysis temperature above 550°C is critical for lowering OFGs, which has an impact on biochar sorption characteristics. According to the findings, biochar oxidation (post‐pyrolysis) is important since it creates more oxide ions on the surface area than feedstock oxidation (pre‐pyrolysis). Due to their high inorganic nutrient content, crop residues such as rice husk, maize stalk, and rapeseed stem, which were classed in the intermediate group in this study, are promising feedstocks for synthesizing biochars with high SSA, MP, and CEC. Overall, when compared to other approaches, the acidic process significantly improves the surface properties of biochar.

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“…Many studies in recent years have revealed the positive effects of biochar amendment on physical and chemical soil properties (Beusch 2021), such as the increase of cation exchange capacity (CEC) (Das et al 2021;Liang et al 2006) and soil water-holding capacity (e.g., Abel et al 2013;Bruun et al 2014;Hien et al 2021). Furthermore, an increase in crop yield has been documented for different biochars, soil types, and regions (e.g., Gopal et al 2020;Jeffery et al 2011;Steiner et al 2007;Xu et al 2015;Zhang et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Amending a tropical Arenosol: increasing shares of biochar and clay improve the nutrient sorption capacity

Beusch

Melzer

Cierjacks

et al. 2022

Biochar

Self Cite

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Tropical Arenosols may be challenging for agricultural use, particularly in semi-arid regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the addition of increasing shares of biochar and clay on the nutrient sorption capacity of a tropical Arenosol. In batch equilibrium experiments, the sorption of ammonium-N ($$\hbox {NH}_{4}^{+}{\text{-N}}$$ NH 4 + -N ), nitrate-N ($$\text {NO}_{3}^{-}{\text{-N}}$$ NO 3 - -N ), potassium ($$\text {K}^{+}$$ K + ), and phosphate-P ($$\text {PO}_{4}^{3-}{\text{-P}}$$ PO 4 3 - -P ) was quantified for mixtures of an Arenosol with increasing shares of biochar and clay (1%, 2.5%, 5%, 10%, 100%) and the unmixed Arenosol, biochar, and clay. The mid-temperature biochar was produced from Prosopis juliflora feedstock; the clayey material was taken from the sedimentary parent material of a temporarily dry lake. Only the Arenosol–biochar mixture with 10% biochar addition and the biochar increased the $$\text {NH}_{4}^{+}{\text{-N}}$$ NH 4 + -N maximum sorption capacity ($$q_{max}$$ q max ) of the Arenosol, by 34% and 130%, respectively. The $$q_{max}$$ q max of $$\text {PO}_{4}^{3-}{\text{-P}}$$ PO 4 3 - -P slightly increased with ascending biochar shares (1–10%) by 14%, 30%, 26%, and 42%, whereas the undiluted biochar released $$\text {PO}_{4}^{3-}{\text{-P}}$$ PO 4 3 - -P . Biochar addition slightly reduced $$\text {NO}_{3}^{-}{\text{-N}}$$ NO 3 - -N release from the Arenosol but strongly induced $$\text {K}^{+}$$ K + release. On the other hand, clay addition of 10% and clay itself augmented $$q_{max}$$ q max of $$\text {NH}_{4}^{+}{\text{-N}}$$ NH 4 + -N by 30% and 162%; ascending clay rates (1–100%) increased $$q_{max}$$ q max for $$\text {PO}_{4}^{3-}{\text{-P}}$$ PO 4 3 - -P by 78%, 130%, 180%, 268%, and 712%. Clay rates above 5% improved $$\text {K}^{+}$$ K + sorption; however, no $$q_{max}$$ q max values could be derived. Sorption of $$\text {NO}_{3}^{-}{\text{-N}}$$ NO 3 - -N remained unaffected by clay amendment. Overall, clay addition proved to enhance the nutrient sorption capacity of the Arenosol more effectively than biochar; nonetheless, both materials may be promising amendments to meliorate sandy soils for agricultural use in the semi-arid tropics.

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Biochar as a Soil Ameliorant: How Biochar Properties Benefit Soil Fertility—A Review

Cited by 27 publications

References 145 publications

Drivers of the Chemical Quality of Market Gardening Soils in the Urban and Peri-Urban Environment of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso): Impact of Fertilizers Sources and Sites Location

Drivers of the Chemical Quality of Market Gardening Soils in the Urban and Peri-Urban Environment of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso): Impact of Fertilizers Sources and Sites Location

A meta‐analysis on the impacts of different oxidation methods on the surface area properties of biochar

Amending a tropical Arenosol: increasing shares of biochar and clay improve the nutrient sorption capacity

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