Abstract
Increasing soil moisture storage capacity is a strategy that can be implemented to minimize the use of water in paddy rice cultivation. Organic materials from different sources have the potential to increase soil moisture storage and nutrient enrichment. An incubation study was conducted to evaluate the incorporation of five selected organic amendments—as follows: rice husk biochar (RHB), oil palm empty fruit bunch biochar (EFBB), compost (COMP), rice husk ash (RHA), and oil palm bunch ash (PBA), with a control (no amendment) on soil moisture storage and some chemical properties of soil. The soil was incubated with five amendments for 60 days and sampled at 15-day intervals. After completion of the incubation, a greater extent of gravimetric water content was observed from RHB (0.46 g g−1) and EFBB (0.45 g g−1) followed by compost (0.40 g g−1). The addition of organic amendments significantly influenced soil chemical properties. Maximum soil pH was altered by PBA followed by EFBB compared to its initial value (5.01). The inclusion of EFBB finally contributed to the highest amount of total carbon (7.82%) and nitrogen (0.44%). The addition of PBA showed the highest available P and exchangeable K followed by RHB when compared with the amendments. The results indicated that RHB, EFBB, and compost retain more soil moisture compared to ash sources and added soil nutrients, indicating their potential to improve the chemical and hydrological properties of paddy soil.
Highlights
Micropores observed in rice husk biochar (RHB) and oil palm empty fruit bunch biochar (EFBB) were absent in the rice husk ash (RHA), compost (COMP), and oil Palm Bunch Ash (PBA)
Biochar produced from rice husk exhibited pores marked by cell wall structures ranging from 0.5 to 10 μm
Oil palm EFBB showed the same origin of pore structure similar to rice husk but the size of the pore ranged between 1 and 10 μm
Summary
748 million tons of rice were produced over the world, requiring more than 160 million ha of land [1]. Rice is the largest consumer of water and it consumes about 34–43% of irrigation water over the world [2]; producing one kilogram of rice requires 3000 to 5000 L of water [3]. Water for agricultural purposes becoming scarce due to climate change and rapid industrialization and urbanization presents a challenge to farmers regarding the production of more rice per unit of land with limited water [4]. Many modifications in rice cultivation, such as aerobic rice, direct seeding, alternate wetting, and drying, etc., have been made to save water and are used because of the changing climatic conditions of the earth [6].
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