Using Agricultural Residue Biochar to Improve Soil Quality of Desert Soils

Biochar Application to Soils

Biochar application to soils is being considered as a means to sequester carbon (C) while concurrently improving soil functions. The main focus of this report is providing a critical scientific review of the current state of knowledge regarding the effects of biochar application to soils on soil properties and functions. Wider issues, including atmospheric emissions and occupational health and ...

Benefits of biochar, compost and biochar-compost for soil quality, maize yield and greenhouse gas emissions in a tropical agricultural soil.

Soil quality decline represents a significant constraint on the productivity and sustainability of agriculture in the tropics. In this study, the influence of biochar, compost and mixtures of the two on soil fertility, maize yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions was investigated in a tropical Ferralsol. The treatments were: 1) control with business as usual fertilizer (F); 2) 10 t ha(-1) bio...

Biochar and biosolids increase tree growth and improve soil quality for urban landscapes.

Urban soil quality is often degraded and a challenging substrate for trees. This study was conducted to assess the impacts of biochar (BC), biosolids (BS), wood chips (WC), compost (COM), aerated compost tea (ACT), and a nitrogen plus potassium fertilizer (NK) for improving three typical urban soils and tree sapling growth. Across the three soil types, the most significant changes in soil prope...

Decreased Soil Nitrification Rate with Addition of Biochar to the Acid Soils

This study aimed to investigate the effects of mixed biochar on the nitrification rate in acidic soils. A 15N tracer experiment with (15NH4)2SO4 was conducted to determine the nitrification rates of four acidic agricultural soils with pH 4.03–6.02 in Yunnan Province, Southern China. The accumulation of 15N-NO3− and nitrification rates decreased with the addition of biochar at the end of incubat...

Assessing the potential of biochar and charcoal to improve soil hydraulic properties in 1 the humid