Effects of Biochar With Inorganic and Organic Fertilizers on Agronomic Traits and Nutrient Absorption of Soybean and Fertility and Microbes in Purple Soil

Abstract

Biochar is a kind of organic matter that can be added into the soil as a soil amendment to improve its quality. What are the effects of using biochar on purple soil and soybeans? Can the use of biochar reduce the use of fertilizers? This is our concern. Therefore, we carried out this study. The objectives of our study were to evaluate the effects of biochar, inorganic and organic fertilizer application on plant growth, chlorophyll content, photosynthetic gas exchange, and yield of soybean as well as fertility and microbial community in purple soil, and to appraise the possible reduction rate of inorganic fertilizer under the biochar application. A pot experiment was conducted with three levels of biochar, two levels of inorganic fertilizer, and two levels of organic fertilizer in a randomized complete block. The results indicated that the low rate of biochar together with half rate of inorganic fertilizer and organic fertilizer increased the plant growth of soybean. Meanwhile, the chlorophyll content, root growth, and yield of soybean were increased by 16.61, 197.73, and 96.7%, respectively, with biochar compared with no biochar. The high rate of biochar with half rate of inorganic fertilizer and organic fertilizer can promote the exchange of photosynthetic gas in soybean, and the photosynthetic rate increased by 45.25% compared with the blank control. At the full pod stage, the nitrogen content, phosphorus content, and potassium content of the whole plant under the high rate of biochar were 28.35, 13.65, and 28.78%, respectively, higher than that of the blank control. The application of biochar increased nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium uptake of soybean. The high rate of biochar with half rate of inorganic fertilizer and organic fertilizer can improve soil nutrient content and soil microbial community. Compared with no biochar treatments, total organic carbon (TOC) increased by 740.28%, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) increased by 54.17%. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) increased by 65.22%, and all kinds of soil microorganisms increased to varying degrees. In conclusion, the application of biochar can reduce the use of organic and inorganic fertilizers, improve the agronomic traits and yield of soybean, and play a positive role in soil nutrients and soil microorganisms.

Evaluation of Roholtiella sp. Extract on Bell Pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) Yield and Quality in a Hydroponic Greenhouse System

“…It was recorded by several studies that microalgae extracts, such as polysaccharides, enhanced crop productivity (Vacca et al, 2004 ; Obertello et al, 2010 ; Ding et al, 2018 ; Jagodzik et al, 2018 ), and this is likely responsible for the enhancing potential of HVPE and WRB as shown in our results. Interestingly, our findings on the vegetative parameters were consistent with previous findings which proved that organic material had a beneficial effect on crops such as rice and soybean (Wang et al, 2012 , 2016 ; Liu et al, 2022 ). Also, the impacts of HVPE and WRB were felt on the chlorophyll content in bell pepper plants through the entire growth stage.…”

Food and agricultural wastes-derived biochars in combination with mineral fertilizer as sustainable soil amendments to enhance soil microbiological activity, nutrient cycling and crop production

“…Despite the fact that we found no significant variations in the plant physiological parameters (FPSII, NDVI), their relative increase in MF fertilized treatments (Figures 1C, D) confirms the direct dependence of chlorophyll content and photosynthesis on nutrient availability, especially nitrogen (Huang et al, 2004;Mu and Chen, 2021). This shows that the applied biochars were unable to cast any additional benefit on crop's physiological parameters, however, their combination with mineral fertilizers shows the potential to increase plant growth, as demonstrated also by other studies (Kizito et al, 2019;Li et al, 2020;Ndoung et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2022). The improved crop performance under combined application of biochars and mineral fertilizers could be due to the improved crop nutrient and water availability coming from fertilizer and the mechanisms of biochar on retention and exchange of these nutrients on biochar surfaces which lead consistent supply of nutrients to crops (Agbna et al, 2017;Singh et al, 2019b;Faloye et al, 2019).…”

Biochar-Soil-Plant interactions: A cross talk for sustainable agriculture under changing climate

“…Biochar alkalinity may stimulate the growth of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria (Zimmermann et al, 2012;Osman et al, 2022). Sun et al (2012) observed the bacterial populations were more dynamic and active in biochar-treated soil than fungal populations under field conditions; this may be attributed to the biochar's higher surface area and biochar carbon (Liu et al, 2022). Moreover, pyrolysis temperature, biomass type, and carbon content strongly influence dehydrogenase activity, microbial habitats, N immobilization and mineralization (Ameloot et al, 2015).…”