The ameliorating effects of biochar and compost on soil quality and plant growth on a Ferralsol

Soil Research ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Getachew Agegnehu ◽  
Michael I. Bird ◽  
Paul N. Nelson ◽  
Adrian M. Bass
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Root Biomass ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Shoot Biomass ◽  
Plant Nutrient ◽  
Control Value

Deteriorating soil fertility and the concomitant decline in agricultural productivity are major concerns in many parts of the world. A pot experiment was conducted with a Ferralsol to test the hypothesis that application of biochar improves soil fertility, fertiliser-use efficiency, plant growth and productivity, particularly when combined with compost. Treatments comprised: untreated control; mineral fertiliser at rates of 280 mg nitrogen, 70 mg phosphorus and 180 mg potassium pot–1 (F); 75% F + 40 g compost pot–1 (F + Com); 100% F + 20 g willow biochar pot–1 (F + WB); 75% F + 10 g willow biochar + 20 g compost pot–1 (F + WB + Com); 100% F + 20 g acacia biochar pot–1 (F + AB); and 75% F + 10 g acacia biochar + 20 g compost pot–1 (F + AB + Com). Application of compost with fertiliser significantly increased plant growth, soil nutrient status and plant nutrient content, with shoot biomass (as a ratio of control value) decreasing in the order F + Com (4.0) > F + WB + Com (3.6) > F + WB (3.3) > F + AB + Com (3.1) > F + AB (3.1) > F (2.9) > control (1.0). Maize shoot biomass was positively significantly correlated with chlorophyll content, root biomass, plant height, and specific leaf weight (r = 0.99, 0.98, 0.96 and 0.92, respectively). Shoot and root biomass had significant correlations with soil water content, plant nutrient concentration, and soil nutrient content after harvesting. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the first component provided a reasonable summary of the data, accounting for ~84% of the total variance. As the plants grew, compost and biochar additions significantly reduced leaching of nutrients. In summary, separate or combined application of compost and biochar together with fertiliser increased soil fertility and plant growth. Application of compost and biochar improved the retention of water and nutrients by the soil and thereby uptake of water and nutrients by the plants; however, little or no synergistic effect was observed.

scholarly journals Seasonal variation in AMF colonisation, soil and plant nutrient content in gypsum specialist and generalist species growing in P-poor soils

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreu Cera ◽  
Estephania Duplat ◽  
Gabriel Montserrat-Martí ◽  
Antonio Gómez-Bolea ◽  
Susana Rodríguez-Echeverría ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seasonal Variation ◽  
Nutrient Availability ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
P Availability ◽  
Plant Nutrient ◽  
Rhizospheric Soil ◽  
Soil Nutrient Availability ◽  
Generalist Species

Abstract Aims Gypsum soils are P-limited atypical soils that harbour a rich endemic flora. These singular soils are usually found in drylands, where plant activity and soil nutrient availability are seasonal. No previous studies have analysed the seasonality of P nutrition and its interaction with the arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) colonisation in gypsum plants. Our aim was to evaluate the seasonal changes in plant nutrient status, AMF colonisation and rhizospheric soil nutrient availability in gypsum specialist and generalist species. Methods We evaluated seasonal variation in the proportion of root length colonised by AMF structures (hyphae, vesicules and arbuscules), plant nutrient status (leaf C, N and P and fine root C and N) and rhizospheric soil content (P, organic matter, nitrate and ammonium) of three gypsum specialists and two generalists throughout a year. Results All species showed arbuscules within roots, including species of Caryophyllaceae and Brassicaceae. Root colonisation by arbuscules (AC) was higher in spring than in other seasons, when plants showed high leaf P-requirements. Higher AC was decoupled from inorganic N and P availability in rhizospheric soil, and foliar nutrient content. Generalists showed higher AC than specialists, but only in spring. Conclusions Seasonality was found in AMF colonisation, rhizospheric soil content and plant nutrient status. The mutualism between plants and AMF was highest in spring, when P-requirements are higher for plants, especially in generalists. However, AMF decoupled from plant demands in autumn, when nutrient availability increases in rhizospheric soil.

scholarly journals Effect of magnesium fertilization on yield and nutrient status of rice in kole lands

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 525-529
Author(s):  
Latha A ◽  
Chijina K ◽  
Asha V Pillai
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiments ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Plant Nutrient ◽  
Yield Attributes ◽  
Nutrient Contents ◽  
Pooled Data ◽  
Randomized Block Design

The field experiments were conducted in farmer's field at five locations each of kole lands to study the effect of Magnesium (Mg) on yield and soil and plant nutrient status of rice during 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. The treatments comprised of different levels of Mg viz; 40, 60, 80, 100, and 120 kg Magnesium sulphate(MgSO4)/ha along with control. Observations on growth characters yield attributes, yield and soil and plant nutrient status were recorded. The results revealed that application of 100 kg MgSO4 / ha recorded the maximum number of panicles/m2 (419.13), number of grains/panicle (109.36), thousand grain weight (28.78 g), grain (9.27 t/ha) and straw yield (9.04 t/ha) of rice. The results of pooled data on plant and soil nutrient status revealed that application of magnesium had a positive effect on nutrient content and availability of nutrients in soil. A significant positive correlation was also noticed between Mg application, yield attributes, yield and nutrient contents. The study concluded that application of 100 kg MgSO4 / ha was found to be optimum for correcting the deficiency in Mg deficient areas of kole lands under below sea level farming.

scholarly journals The soil fertility and leaf nutrient status in enset gardens in different altitude zones of the Gamo highlands, Ethiopia and inferences for Xanthomonas wilt prevalence

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabura Shara ◽  
Rony Swennen ◽  
Jozef Deckers ◽  
Fantahun Weldesenbet ◽  
Laura Vercammen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Soil Ph ◽  
Bacterial Wilt ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Available P ◽  
Plant Nutrient ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Fertility Management ◽  
Nutrient Levels

Abstract. Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a productive, drought-tolerant and multipurpose food security crop grown in the densely populated Ethiopian highlands. Its production suffers from poor soil fertility management and a bacterial wilt disease caused by the pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum. The aim of this study was to assess soil-plant-nutrient variation within enset home gardens over three different altitudes (ranging from 2000–3000 masl) in the Chencha catchment of the Gamo highlands and investigate whether this variation affects disease prevalence. Plant available P, Ca and Mg significantly increase with decreasing elevation but significantly decline with distance from the house. In addition, soil pH, conductivity, total organic carbon (TOC), total N, available K, Mn and Fe levels significantly decline with distance from the house. This indicates that soil fertility factors are influenced by both agro-ecology and farmers' management practices. Moreover, most nutrients reach very high levels in the garden whereas the more distant outfields are severely nutrient deprived. Plant nutrient levels are not correlated to soil nutrient levels except for N. Twenty two percent of the studied farms are symptomatic for bacterial wilt and its prevalence increases with decreasing elevation. Symptomatic gardens have a higher soil pH and available P, K and Ca levels. We conclude that soil fertility management in enset gardens should be optimized in relation to agro-ecological conditions and that both elevation and soil nutrient status need to be considered when developing strategies to curb the current Xanthomonas wilt epidemic.

scholarly journals Effect of Fertilizers on Nutrient Content and Uptake of Aromatic Local Transplant Aman Rice Varieties in Acid Soil

2020 ◽  
pp. 35-48
Author(s):  
Kamrun Nahar Mousomi ◽  
Mohammad Noor Hossain Miah ◽  
Md. Abul Kashem ◽  
Imtiaz Miah
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Acid Soil ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Control Treatment ◽  
Aromatic Rice ◽  
Rice Varieties ◽  
Nutrient Analyses

A pot experiment was conducted at the experimental net house of the Department of Soil Science, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh to observe the effect of fertilizers on yield and nutrient uptake of local aromatic rice varieties during the Aman season of 2015. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Five local aromatic rice varieties (Kalizira: V1, Muktasail: V2, Nagrasail: V3, Maloti: V4 and Chinigura: V5) and four packages of fertilizers (F1:  Recommended package i.e. 45-10-20-10-0.5 kg ha-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn, F2: 2/3rd of recommended package, F3: 1/3rd of recommended package, and F4: Control) were used. Urea, TSP, MoP, gypsum and ZnSO4 were used as N, P, K, S and Zn source, respectively. According to the treatment, all fertilizers were applied as basal during final pot preparation while urea was applied in two equal splits (one half as basal and another half at 40 DAT). Nutrient content and uptake of the aromatic rice varieties were significantly affected by the application of different fertilizer packages (with few exceptions). Mostly Kalizira (1.10-0.44-2.31-0.67-13.75 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) and/or Nagrasail (1.15-0.46-2.70-0.62-11.74 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) varieties showed the highest nutrient uptake in grain and straw with recommended package of fertilizers. While in maximum cases Chinigura (0.41-0.16-0.76-0.197-3.17 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) was observed to have the lowest with control treatment. In case of post harvest soil nutrient analyses, Kalizira and/or Chinigura variety associated with recommended package of fertilizers showed the highest nutrient status.

scholarly journals Efficacy of Bio-inoculants Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and Phosphorus on Micronutrient Status of Leaves and Soil in Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) Layers in Nursery Condition

2020 ◽  
pp. 122-129
Author(s):  
Priyanka Kumari ◽  
R. R. Singh ◽  
Ruby Rani ◽  
Mahendra Singh ◽  
Uday Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Mycorrhizal Fungi ◽  
Copper Content ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Arbuscular Mycorrhizal ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Time Duration ◽  
Litchi Chinensis ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Phosphorus Application

Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) originated from South China, it is sub-tropical evergreen fruit crops, especially grown on the marginal climate of tropics and subtropics. It is delicious juicy fruit of India having excellent nutritional quality, pleasant flavoured, good amount of antioxidant and vitamins C, vitamin B-complex and phytonutrients flavonoids. It has a great potential to earn foreign exchange in the national and international market through export. Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) infection is a common association between plant roots and microorganisms. It is responsible for increasing plant nutrient uptake and also increases in macro and micronutrients in leaf. Therefore, the present work has been analyzed macro and micro nutrients from soil and leaf, after 60, 90 and 120 days after inoculation of two bio-inoculants with phosphorus (SSP) including nine treatments with three replications. After 120 days of inoculation both the species of mycorrhizal combination with phosphorus application were very effective. Highest Copper content is (10.99 ppm), Zinc (33.17 ppm), Iron (121.47 ppm) and Manganese (15.33 ppm) was recorded in case T5 (G. mosseae 10 g + Phosphorus 50 mg kg-1 of soil) which is gradually increases. The soil nutrient content gradually decreased with time duration but no- significant difference was found among treatments after 120 days inoculation. After 120 days potting result was found that the Copper content is (1.70 ppm), Zinc (3.07 ppm), Iron (7.80 ppm) and Manganese (4.00 ppm) was recorded in case T5 (G. mosseae 10 g + Phosphorus 50 mg kg-1 of soil).this research was undertaken to find out whether Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) infection and phosphorus affect the micro-nutrient status of soil and leaves in nursery stage.

scholarly journals The Effects of Biofertilizers on Growth, Soil Fertility, and Nutrients Uptake of Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis) under Greenhouse Conditions

Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1681
Author(s):  
Aaronn Avit Ajeng ◽  
Rosazlin Abdullah ◽  
Marlinda Abdul Malek ◽  
Kit Wayne Chew ◽  
Yeek-Chia Ho ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Oil Palm ◽  
Elaeis Guineensis ◽  
Combined Treatment ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Fertilizer Application ◽  
Chemical Fertilizer ◽  
Greenhouse Study

The full dependency on chemical fertilizers in oil palm plantation poses an enormous threat to the ecosystem through the degradation of soil and water quality through leaching to the groundwater and contaminating the river. A greenhouse study was conducted to test the effect of combinations of biofertilizers with chemical fertilizer focusing on the soil fertility, nutrient uptake, and the growth performance of oil palms seedlings. Soils used were histosol, spodosol, oxisol, and ultisol. The three treatments were T1: 100% chemical fertilizer (NPK 12:12:17), T2: 70% chemical fertilizer + 30% biofertilizer A (CF + BFA), and T3: 70% + 30% biofertilizer B (CF + BFB). T2 and T3, respectively increased the growth of oil palm seedlings and soil nutrient status but seedlings in oxisol and ultisol under T3 had the highest in almost all parameters due to the abundance of more efficient PGPR. The height of seedlings in ultisol under T3 was 22% and 17% more than T2 and T1 respectively, with enhanced girth size, chlorophyll content, with improved nutrient uptake by the seedlings. Histosol across all treatments has a high macronutrient content suggesting that the rate of chemical fertilizer application should be revised when planting using the particular soil. With the reduction of chemical fertilizer by 25%, the combined treatment with biofertilizers could enhance the growth of the oil palm seedlings and soil nutrient properties regardless of the soil orders.

scholarly journals The effect of chloride and sulphate application to soil on changes in nutrient content in barley shoot biomass at an early phase of growth

2011 ◽  
Vol 50 (No. 7) ◽  
pp. 295-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Matula
Keyword(s):  
Nitrate Concentration ◽  
Phosphorus Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Status ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Shoot Biomass ◽  
Phosphorus Concentration ◽  
Barley Plant ◽  
Plant Nitrogen ◽  
Labile Phosphorus ◽  
The Impact

In this study experiments primarily aimed at the needs of specification of an adequate soil reserve of labile sulphur were extended by investigations of the impact on interactions in nutrient uptake by a test barley plant. Vegetation (18-day) experiments under controlled conditions of cultivation were conducted on a diverse set of 48 soils from agricultural lands. Before barley sowing the experimental set of soils was divided into two variants: A &ndash; control (with NH<sub>4</sub>Cl application) and B &ndash; response variant [with (NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub> application], and a uniform dose of 26 mg N/kg soil was used. After the experiment terminated, concentrations of N, N-NO<sub>3</sub><sup>&ndash;</sup>, S, S-SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2&ndash;</sup>, P, K, Mg, Ca, Na, Mn and B were determined. Paired t-test revealed significant differences between the sets of data on variants A and B in barley yield and concentrations of sulphur, sulphate, nitrate, phosphorus and boron in barley plants. Sulphate variant (B) had higher yield of barley, higher concentrations of sulphur, sulphate and boron and lower concentrations of nitrate and phosphorus compared to variant A. The lower concentrations of nitrate and phosphorus could not be reasoned by the effect of dilution resulting from the higher barley yield. A substantial decrease in nitrate concentration was related to better utilisation of plant nitrogen after the nutrient status of soil was adjusted with sulphur. Phosphorus concentration in barley adequately corresponded to the soil reserve of labile phosphorus, but only after the phosphorus concentration in barley markedly decreased to the lower level in (sulphate) variant B. Higher concentration of boron in barley could potentially be related to the depression of phosphorus uptake after sulphate application.

scholarly journals Effects of Two Trichoderma Strains on Plant Growth, Rhizosphere Soil Nutrients, and Fungal Community of Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica Annual Seedlings

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saiyaremu Halifu ◽  
Xun Deng ◽  
Xiaoshuang Song ◽  
Ruiqing Song
Keyword(s):  
Enzyme Activity ◽  
Community Structure ◽  
Plant Growth ◽  
Soil Nutrients ◽  
Fungal Community ◽  
Rhizosphere Soil ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Nutrient Content ◽  
Root Structure ◽  
Soil Nutrient Content

Trichoderma spp. are proposed as major plant growth-promoting fungi that widely exist in the natural environment. These strains have the abilities of rapid growth and reproduction and efficient transformation of soil nutrients. Moreover, they can change the plant rhizosphere soil environment and promote plant growth. Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica has the characteristics of strong drought resistance and fast growth and plays an important role in ecological construction and environmental restoration. The effects on the growth of annual seedlings, root structure, rhizosphere soil nutrients, enzyme activity, and fungal community structure of P. sylvestris var. mongolica were studied after inoculation with Trichoderma harzianum E15 and Trichoderma virens ZT05, separately. The results showed that after inoculation with T. harzianum E15 and T. virens ZT05, seedling biomass, root structure index, soil nutrients, and soil enzyme activity were significantly increased compared with the control (p < 0.05). There were significant differences in the effects of T. harzianum E15 and T. virens ZT05 inoculation on the growth and rhizosphere soil nutrient of P. sylvestris var. mongolica (p < 0.05). For the E15 treatment, the seedling height, ground diameter, and total biomass of seedlings were higher than that those of the ZT05 treatment, and the rhizosphere soil nutrient content and enzyme activity of the ZT05 treatment were higher than that of the E15 treatment. The results of alpha and beta diversity analyses showed that the fungi community structure of rhizosphere soil was significantly different (p < 0.05) among the three treatments (inoculated with T. harzianum E15, T. virens ZT05, and not inoculated with Trichoderma). Overall, Trichoderma inoculation was correlated with the change of rhizosphere soil nutrient content.

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