Effects of Biochar on Irrigation Management and Water Use Efficiency for Three Different Crops in a Desert Sandy Soil

Abstract

This paper aimed at investigating if the application of biochar (BC) to desert sand (DS) from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), characterized by a very poor soil-water retention (SWR) and by a very low value of the maximum water available for crops (AWmax), could positively affect soil water balance, by reducing the irrigation needs (VIRR) and improving the irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) and the water use efficiency (WUE). The analysis was performed for three crops, i.e., wheat (Triticum aestivum), sorghum (Sorghum vulgare) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). BC was applied to the DS at different fractions, fBC (fBC = 0, 0.091, 0.23 and 0.33). Drip irrigation was adopted as a highly efficient water saving method, which is particularly relevant in arid, water-scarce countries. Soil water balance and irrigation scheduling were simulated by application of the AQUACROP model, using as input the SWR measured without and with BC addition. The effect of BC was investigated under either a no-water stress (NWS) condition for the crops or deficit irrigation (DI). The results showed that the application of BC made it possible to reduce the predicted VIRR and to increase the IWUE under the NWS scenario, especially for wheat and sorghum, with less evident benefits for tomato. When a deficit irrigation (DI) was considered, even at the lowest considered fBC (0.091), BC counterbalanced the lower VIRR provided under DI, thus mitigating the yield reduction due to water stress, and improved the WUE. The influence of BC was more pronounced in wheat and tomato than in sorghum. The results evidenced that the application of BC could be a potential strategy for saving irrigation water and/or reducing the effects of drought stress in desert sand. This means that biochar could be used a management option to promote local production and reduce the dependency on food import, not only in the UAE, but also in other countries with extremely arid climatic conditions and large extensions of sandy soils similar to the considered DS.

Effects of Farmyard Manure and Biochar Treatments on the Development and Water Use of Lettuce Under the Deficit Irrigation Regime

“…Because, based on the formulaic calculation component of water productivity efficiency and irrigation water productivity efficiency (Equations 3 and 4), the decreasing amount of irrigation water and real evapotranspiration values against the increasing yield potential results in an increase in water productivity efficiency and irrigation water productivity efficiency. Similar to the findings of this study, Alkhasha et al (2019) and Baiamonte et al (2020) also stated that water and irrigation water productivity efficiency values increased due to increased yield and decreasing amount of irrigation water and real evapotranspiration in biochar conditions.…”

Nanopotassium, Nanosilicon, and Biochar Applications Improve Potato Salt Tolerance by Modulating Photosynthesis, Water Status, and Biochemical Constituents

“…The role of applied nanomaterials and biochar (n-K, n-Si, Bc) in modulating the water status of potato plants is of interest, especially within the context of the initial reduction in the growth of salt-stressed plants being related to the osmotic effect of the salt [58,61,62]. The RWC and the water use efficiency (WUE) improved in response to Si, K, and biochar treatments under salt stress conditions, not only by reducing the Na absorbance and decreasing the transpiration rate, but also by increasing the potassium absorbance and the translocation to the stomatal guard cells, where potassium influences the stomatal conductivity [57,60,63,64].…”

Effects and Economic Sustainability of Biochar Application on Corn Production in a Mediterranean Climate

“…In warm climates, the effect of biochar supplementation on plant growth ranged from highly ineffective [ 35 ] to highly effective [ 36 ]. The effect of biochar on plant species in the Mediterranean climate was examined in control chambers with limited field studies.…”