No Effect Level of Co-Composted Biochar on Plant Growth and Soil Properties in a Greenhouse Experiment

The process of industrial change has resulted in the creation of so-called &#8216;brownfields&#8217; across Europe, particularly in urban areas, in the industrial sections of cities. The need to recover these brownfields can be linked to the new European Commission program "Zero Wastes", that is, to restore or recondition these areas by applying amendments made with by-products or green elements. In this sense, the capacities of magnesite and biochar, inorganic and organic soil amendments respectively, were tested to reduce metal availability and improve the properties of a soil severely contaminated by Cu, Cd, Pb and Zn. To this end, two implementation steps were performed.First, 1 kg pots containing the polluted soil were amended with either magnesite or biochar and then determined metal availability and soil properties at days 15 and 75 in a greenhouse experiment. In addition, to evaluate the impact of the two treatments on plant growth, the experimental trials were carried out using Brassica juncea L. and compost addition. Both amendments, but particularly magnesite, markedly decreased metal availability. Soil properties were also improved, as revealed by increases in the cation exchangeable capacity. However, plant growth was inhibited by magnesite amendment. This effect was probably due to an increase in soil pH, cation exchange capacity and a high Mg concentration. In contrast, biochar increased biomass production whereas decreased the content of metals harvested. Then, a field scale experiment was performed in situ by means of treating 1 ton of the soil with the magnesite and also with the biochar. Brassica juncea L. was used for testing the impact on plants, and the experiment was monitored at 3, 30 and 60 days from the beginning of the experiment. Similar results to the greenhouse experiment were obtained.In conclusion, the results indicate that magnesite amendment may be suitable for stabilizing contaminated soils (or even spoil heaps) where revegetation is not a priority. In contrast, although biochar has a lower, but still significant, capacity to immobilize metals, its use emerges as a promising tool for restoring soil properties and thus favoring plant growth.AcknowledgmentThis work was supported by the research projects NANOBIOWASH CTM2016-75894-P (AEI/FEDER, UE) and NANOCAREM MCI-20-PID2019-106939GB-I00 (AEI/FEDER, UE).Diego Baraga&#241;o obtained a grant from the &#8220;Formaci&#243;n del Profesorado Universitario&#8221; program, financed by the &#8220;Ministerio de Educaci&#243;n, Cultura y Deporte de Espa&#241;a&#8221;.Arenas-Lago D. thanks to his postdoc contract ED481D 2019/007 (Xunta de Galicia and Universidade de Vigo).

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Characterization of Plant Growth-Promoting Traits and Inoculation Effects on Triticum durum of Actinomycetes Isolates under Salt Stress Conditions

Soil Systems ◽

10.3390/soilsystems5020026 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 26

Author(s):

Rihab Djebaili ◽

Marika Pellegrini ◽

Massimiliano Rossi ◽

Cinzia Forni ◽

Maria Smati ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Acetic Acid ◽

Salt Stress ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Durum Wheat ◽

Growth And Development ◽

Indole Acetic Acid ◽

Greenhouse Experiment ◽

Hydrocyanic Acid ◽

In Vitro Assays

This study aimed to characterize the halotolerant capability, in vitro, of selected actinomycetes strains and to evaluate their competence in promoting halo stress tolerance in durum wheat in a greenhouse experiment. Fourteen isolates were tested for phosphate solubilization, indole acetic acid, hydrocyanic acid, and ammonia production under different salt concentrations (i.e., 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.25, and 1.5 M NaCl). The presence of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity was also investigated. Salinity tolerance was evaluated in durum wheat through plant growth and development parameters: shoot and root length, dry and ash-free dry weight, and the total chlorophyll content, as well as proline accumulation. In vitro assays have shown that the strains can solubilize inorganic phosphate and produce indole acetic acid, hydrocyanic acid, and ammonia under different salt concentrations. Most of the strains (86%) had 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase activity, with significant amounts of α-ketobutyric acid. In the greenhouse experiment, inoculation with actinomycetes strains improved the morpho-biochemical parameters of durum wheat plants, which also recorded significantly higher content of chlorophylls and proline than those uninoculated, both under normal and stressed conditions. Our results suggest that inoculation of halotolerant actinomycetes can mitigate the negative effects of salt stress and allow normal growth and development of durum wheat plants.

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Sewage sludge application enhances soil properties and rice growth in a salt-affected mudflat soil

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80358-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yuhua Shan ◽

Min Lv ◽

Wengang Zuo ◽

Zehui Tang ◽

Cheng Ding ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sewage Sludge ◽

Organic Carbon ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Root Growth ◽

Soil Fertility ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Soluble Sugar ◽

Soil Reclamation ◽

Rice Growth ◽

Promote Plant Growth

AbstractThe most important measures for salt-affected mudflat soil reclamation are to reduce salinity and to increase soil organic carbon (OC) content and thus soil fertility. Salinity reduction is often accomplished through costly freshwater irrigation by special engineering measures. Whether fertility enhancement only through one-off application of a great amount of OC can improve soil properties and promote plant growth in salt-affected mudflat soil remains unclear. Therefore, the objective of our indoor pot experiment was to study the effects of OC amendment at 0, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.5%, calculated from carbon content, by one-off application of sewage sludge on soil properties, rice yield, and root growth in salt-affected mudflat soil under waterlogged conditions. The results showed that the application of sewage sludge promoted soil fertility by reducing soil pH and increasing content of OC, nitrogen and phosphorus in salt-affected mudflat soil, while soil electric conductivity (EC) increased with increasing sewage sludge (SS) application rates under waterlogged conditions. In this study, the rice growth was not inhibited by the highest EC of 4.43 dS m−1 even at high doses of SS application. The SS application increased yield of rice, promoted root growth, enhanced root activity and root flux activity, and increased the soluble sugar and amino acid content in the bleeding sap of rice plants at the tillering, jointing, and maturity stages. In conclusion, fertility enhancement through organic carbon amendment can “offset” the adverse effects of increased salinity and promote plant growth in salt-affected mudflat soil under waterlogged conditions.

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Correlation of pH on Soil Physicochemical Properties using Linear Regression Model for Spectral Data Analysis

International Journal of Advanced Remote Sensing and GIS ◽

10.23953/cloud.ijarsg.504 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 3492-3500

Author(s):

Vipin Y. Borole ◽

◽

Sonali B. Kulkarni ◽

Keyword(s):

Linear Regression ◽

Plant Growth ◽

Physicochemical Properties ◽

Regression Model ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Spectral Data ◽

Linear Regression Model ◽

Soil Analysis ◽

Soil Physicochemical Properties ◽

Analytical Technique

Soil properties may be varied by spatially and temporally with different agricultural practices. An accurate and reliable soil properties assessment is challenging issue in soil analysis. The soil properties assessment is very important for understanding the soil properties, nutrient management, influence of fertilizers and relation between soil properties which are affecting the plant growth. Conventional laboratory methods used to analyses soil properties are generally impractical because they are time-consuming, expensive and sometimes imprecise. On other hand, Visible and infrared spectroscopy can effectively characterize soil. Spectroscopic measurements are rapid, precise and inexpensive. Soil spectroscopy has shown to be a fast, cost-effective, environmentally friendly, non-destructive, reproducible and repeatable analytical technique. In the present research, we use spectroscopy techniques for soil properties analysis. The spectra of agglomerated farming soils were acquired by the ASD Field spec 4 spectroradiometer. Different fertilizers treatment applied soil samples are collected in pre monsoon and post monsoon season for 2 year (4 season) for banana and cotton crops in the form of DS-I and DS-II respectively. The soil spectra of VNIR region were preprocessed to get pure spectra. Then process the acquired spectral data by statistical methods for quantitative analysis of soil properties. The detected soil properties were carbon, Nitrogen, soil organic matter, pH, phosphorus, potassium, moisture sand, silt and clay. Soil pH is most important chemical properties that describe the relative acidity or alkalinity of the soil. It directly effect on plant growth and other soil properties. The relationship between pH properties on soil physical and chemical parameters and their influence were analyses by using linear regression model and show the performance of regression model with R2 and RMSE. Keywords soil; physicochemical properties; spectroscopy; pH

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EFFECTS OF LIME ON EXTRACTABLE ALUMINUM AND OTHER SOIL PROPERTIES AND ON BARLEY AND ALFALFA GROWN IN POT TESTS

Canadian Journal of Soil Science ◽

10.4141/cjss72-054 ◽

1972 ◽

Vol 52 (3) ◽

pp. 427-438 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

A. J. MacLEAN ◽

R. L. HALSTEAD ◽

B. J. FINN

Keyword(s):

Plant Growth ◽

Soil Properties ◽

Soil Ph ◽

Acid Soil ◽

Soil Samples ◽

Neutral Salt ◽

Incubation Experiment ◽

Pot Experiments ◽

P Content ◽

Mn Content

Liming of six acid soil samples in an incubation experiment with rates to raise the soil pH to 6.0 or above eliminated Al soluble in 0.01 M CaCl2, reduced soluble Mn and Zn, increased NO3-N markedly, and at the highest pH increased the amounts of NaHCO3-soluble P in some of the soils. In corresponding pot experiments, liming increased the yield of alfalfa and in three of the soils the yield of barley also. Liming reduced the concentrations of the metals in the plants and at the highest pH tended to increase the P content of the plants. Liming to a pH of about 5.3 eliminated or greatly reduced soluble Al and the soils were base saturated as measured by the replacement of Al, Ca, and Mg by a neutral salt. There was some evidence that liming to reduce soluble Al and possibly Mn was beneficial for plant growth. Gypsum increased the concentrations of Al, Mn, and Zn in 0.01 M CaCl2 extracts of the soils whereas phosphate reduced them. The changes in the Mn content of the plants following these treatments were in agreement with the amounts of Mn in the CaCl2 extracts.

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