Effects of the application of charred bark ofAcacia mangiumon the yield of maize, cowpea and peanut, and soil chemical properties in South Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Charred bark of Acacia mangium (bark charcoal), which is made of wood waste from pulp production, was applied as soil amendment for the cultivation of maize, cowpea and peanut to examine its effects on crop yield and soil chemical properties in South Sumatra, Indonesia. The yields of maize and peanut significantly increased after the application of bark charcoal under a fertilized condition in an infertile soil environment. In addition, increases in the root amount and colonization rate of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi after bark charcoal application were also observed in maize. In general, the application of bark charcoal induced changes in soil chemical properties by increasing the pH value, total N and available P 2 O 5 contents, cation exchange capacity, amounts of exchangeable cations and base saturation, and by decreasing the content of exchangeable Al 3+ . The amelioration of the soil chemical properties could be effective in highly weathered infertile tropical soils. The application of charcoal in agriculture is expected to lead to the formation of a carbon sink in soil and to increase crop yield because it has been suggested that charcoal is highly resistant to abiotic and biotic degradation, even in a soil environment.

Mycorrhizal responses to biochar in soil – concepts and mechanisms

“…These experiments show that additions of biochar materials generally result in the alteration of soil physico-chemical properties that may lead to increases in soil nutrient availability (measurements taken from both soil samples and plant tissues) and/or increases in root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi (Ishii and Kadoya 1994;Matsubara et al 2002;Yamato et al 2006). In a greenhouse experiment by Matsubara et al (2002), the soil pH of treatments receiving biochar increased from 5.4 to 6.2 (10% biochar by volume) and 6.3 (30% biochar by volume).…”

“…Increases in soil pH towards neutral values (Lucas and Davis 1961), in addition to increased CEC (Glaser et al 2002), may result in increases in bio-available P and base cations in biochar influenced soils. Additionally, Lehmann et al (2003), Topoliantz et al (2005), Gundale and DeLuca (2006) and Yamato et al (2006) showed that biochar itself contained small amounts of nutrients that would be available to both soil biota (including mycorrhizal fungi) and plant roots. Lastly, DeLuca et al (2006) showed that biochar from forest wildfire stimulated gross and net nitrification rates, most likely mediated by biochar adsorbing inhibitory phenols.…”

Pioneering works in biochar research, Japan

“…Another research group reported the changes in the chemical properties of soil and crop yields with the application of bark charcoal of Acacia mangium made from bark waste from a pulp factory (Yamato et al 2006). The charcoal was applied as a soil amendment for the cultivation of maize, cowpea, and peanut in Sumatra, Indonesia.…”

Effects of biochar on pepperoncini (Capsicum annuum L cv. Stavros) germination and seedling growth in two soil types

“…Biochar amendment on soil may have agronomic advantages, including improvements in soil quality and plant growth (Jeffery et al, 2011;Chan et al, 2008). Biochar has been reported to increase both (Chan et al, 2008;Yamato et al, 2006), as well as decrease (Deenik et al, 2010) plant growth, but there was little evidence to support the hypothesis of increased seed germination with the addition of biochar. Researchers observed species-dependent effects of biochar on the germination (Free et al, 2010;Keller et al, 2010;Kwapinski et al, 2010;Van Zwieten et al, 2010;Solaiman et al, 2011;Robertsonet et al, 2012;Kamara et al, 2014;Soni, et al, 2014).…”