Employment of Cannabis sativa biochar to improve soil nutrient pool and metal immobilization

Abstract

Soil pollution with heavy metals has become a global issue because of anthropogenic activities causing gradual loss of soil nutrients and fertility, thus, reducing agricultural production. Biochar is recommended as an organic and environment-friendly option to address the issue of nutrient deficiency and heavy metal pollution. The present study was performed with biochar derived from Cannabis sativa to surplus soil nutrient pool and heavy metal immobilization. The characterization through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that biochar was brittle, porous, alkaline, and labile in nature. The elemental composition of biochar was carbon (75.3%), oxygen (19.2%), calcium (3.9%), potassium (1.5%), and chlorine (0.08%) determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy revealed the occurrence of carbonyl group, phenols, and alcohols in biochar derived from Cannabis sativa. The soil was spiked with lead and cadmium salt solution (25 ppm and 250) and incubated for 30 days. It was found that biochar amendments (1% = BC1 and 5% = BC5) significantly (p < 0.05) increased the soil physicochemical properties such as pH, electrical conductivity (EC), oxidizable organic carbon (OC), total organic carbon (TOC), and organic matter (OM). In the case of BC5, OC increased by 189.86%, TOC increased by 189.13%, and OM increased by 188.68%, as compared to the control. Similarly, soil available nitrogen (AN) and soil available phosphorous improved by 233.3% and 101.79%, respectively, compared to control. On the other hand, BC1 showed a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in lead and cadmium concentrations by 45.74% and 56.58%, respectively, in comparison to BC5 and control. In conclusion, we suggest that Cannabis sativa biochar may serve as an effective treatment for enhancing soil fertility and remediation of soil polluted with heavy metals.

Significant Synergy Effects of Biochar Combined with Topdressing Silicon on Cd Reduction and Yield Increase of Rice in Cd-Contaminated Paddy Soil

“…In terms of BC, with the large specific surface area, well-developed pore structure and high nutrient content, it was able to effectively improve the physicochemical properties of the soil, and thus increase the contents of nutrients in soil [50]. In addition, BC accelerated the decomposition of soil organic matter and effectively adsorbed nitrate and ammonium ions through surface functional groups, thus increasing soil ammonium N, available P and available K in soil [51,52]. In this study, under Cd-contaminated conditions, BC application elevated the contents of nutrients such as N, P, K and available Si, etc.…”

Industrial Cannabis sativa-Hemp: Biochar applications and disadvantages

“…Biochar is an organic substance that is typically manufactured from a range of biomass, such as wood, branches, leaves, agricultural waste, shells, husk, animal and poultry waste [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. The biomass feedstock can be pyrolyzed at a high temperature with limited oxygen.…”

“…The biomass feedstock can be pyrolyzed at a high temperature with limited oxygen. The resulting material (biochar) is highly porous and stabilized and can be utilized as an adsorbent due to the large surface area, microporosity, functional groups, and hydrophobicity [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Biochar is a carbon-rich and porous material that finds application in different sectors and can be extremely useful in agriculture as soil improver or organic fertilizer [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37].…”

“…The resulting material (biochar) is highly porous and stabilized and can be utilized as an adsorbent due to the large surface area, microporosity, functional groups, and hydrophobicity [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. Biochar is a carbon-rich and porous material that finds application in different sectors and can be extremely useful in agriculture as soil improver or organic fertilizer [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. It is also possible to convert plant biomass into other products through the pyrolysis process which is a sequence of endothermic (dehydration and heating) and exothermic (volatile release and pyrolysis) reactions that degrade plant biomass by heating it in the absence of oxygen [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35...…”

“…Biochar is a carbon-rich and porous material that finds application in different sectors and can be extremely useful in agriculture as soil improver or organic fertilizer [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. It is also possible to convert plant biomass into other products through the pyrolysis process which is a sequence of endothermic (dehydration and heating) and exothermic (volatile release and pyrolysis) reactions that degrade plant biomass by heating it in the absence of oxygen [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37]. During pyrolysis, biomass particles are decomposed and form char, gasses (CO, CO2 and CH4), condensable vapours containing organic compounds, and water [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35]…”