Effects of successive application of crop-straw biochar on crop yield and soil properties in Cambosols
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    Abstract:

    Annually about 0.6~0.7 billion tons of crop straw is produced in China, however nearly half failed reasonable use, causing a series of problems such as resource waste and environmental pollution. Biochar, a pyrolyzed biomass high in carbon concentration and stable C, can improve soil carbon pool rapidly when applied to soil. The application of crop-straw derived biochar does not only increase carbon sequestration, reduce emission of greenhouse gases and improve soil quality, but also serve as an effective way to realize diversified comprehensive utilization of straw resource. Nevertheless, owing to its unique physico-chemical properties, biochar, once applied as a soil conditioner, would certainly alter soil property and then influence crop growth. In order to assess the potential of biochar in application to farmland of cambosols (pH 8.30) in North China Plain, a two-year field experiment (4 croppings or two cycles of wheat and maize crop rotation beginning in fall of 2011), was conducted in the Fengqiu Agro-ecological Experiment Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fengqiu, Henan Province. The experiment was designed to have four treatments in biochar application rate, i.e. Treatment BC0 (0 t hm-2; as control or CK), Treatment BC2.25 (2.25 t hm-2; low level), Treatment BC6.75 (6.75 t hm-2; medium level) and Treatment BC11.3 (11.3 t hm-2; high level). The total biochar application rate of the 4 croppings was 0, 9, 27 and 45.2 t hm-2, respectively. Each treatment had three replicates and the plots of the treatments were laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD), 16 m2 each in area. For wheat N 240 kg hm-2 (urea), P2O5150 kg hm-2 (triple superphosphate) and K2O 90 kg hm-2 (potassium sulfate) was applied, while for maize N 200 kg hm2 and the same rate of P and K as for wheat were. P and K fertilizers were applied all at once as basal dressing, while N fertilizer was applied in split dosing, i.e. 60% as basal and the remaining 40% as side dressing at the jointing stage. The fertilizers were broadcast into the wheat fields, and applied in pits in the maize. The crops were irrigated after fertilizer application, and their subsequent water demand was met by rainfall. Crop yield, grain quality, N uptake, mineral N (NO3--N and NH4+-N) in soil, pH, soil bulk density, water content and water holding capacity were monitored for all the plots. Results show that for the first three crops (wheat-maize-wheat) no statistically significant difference (p>0.05) in yield was found between CK and the other three treatments. When it came to the fourth cropping, the crop of maize increased its yield by 8.43% in Treatment BC6.75. The yield of the four crops were also increased by 4.92% and 4.54% in Treatments BC6.75 and BC11.3, respectively. Biochar application had no negative effects on protein content in wheat and maize grains or bulk density of and wet gluten content in wheat grain, however Treatment BC11.3 was found to have increased bulk density of and protein content in wheat grain. Although no significant effect of biochar addition was observed on nitrogen uptake and accumulation by shoots of the crops and soil mineral nitrogen and soil pH, nitrogen uptake and accumulation of the grains of the 4 crops increased by 6.55%~7.98%, soil water content in the plough layer by 10.3%~20.2%, and soil water holding capacity by 14.5%~15.0%, yet, soil bulk density decreased by 2.99%~10.4% in Treatments BC6.75 and BC11.3. All the findings suggest that successive application of crop straw derived biochar does have some positive effects on crop yield and no negative influence on grain quality, and that biochar has no significant effects on mineral nitrogen content in the topsoil or N uptake and utilization by crops. The beneficial effects of biochar of improving soil physical properties, like in bulk density, soil water content, and water holding capacity may be the major cause to yield increase after the application of biochar in cambosols. It is necessary to do some further in-depth studies on effect of long-term biochar application on soil water and nutrient dynamic and some other physico-chemical properties of cambosols and nutrient translocation in plant in the hope that the study may provide some scientific data to support extrapolation of the application of crop straw derived biochar in upland of North China.

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Liu Yuan, M. Jamal Khan, Jin Haiyang, Bai Xueying, Xie Yingxin, Zhao Xu, Wang Shenqiang, Wang Chenyang. Effects of successive application of crop-straw biochar on crop yield and soil properties in Cambosols[J]. Acta Pedologica Sinica,2015,52(4):849-858.

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History
  • Received:December 02,2014
  • Revised:March 24,2015
  • Adopted:March 25,2015
  • Online: April 24,2015
  • Published: