Abstract
Organic manure and biochar amendments have been used in agriculture to improve soil fertility and enhance crop productivity. Plant roots play an important role in the functionality of individual plants, and although the addition of organic manure and biochar reportedly affect roots, it remains unclear how root morphology and physiology respond. We conducted a field experiment to test the hypothesis that organic manure combined with biochar amendment could also enhance the productivity of continuous cropping systems in Xinjiang cotton plantations. Different levels of organic manure and biochar were applied. Organic manure and biochar significantly affected root morphology and physiology by improving soil nutrients. In the absence of biochar, organic manure amendment increased Root TTC reducing capacity, glutamine synthetase and nitrate reductase activity. Furthermore, morphological and physiological parameters peaked with 6% organic manure combined with 1% biochar. A significant increase in root physiology was recognized with an increase in soil nutrient content at the bud stage and a negative relationship between root physiology and soil total K content at the harvesting stage. Thus, our results indicate that organic manure combined with biochar positively influenced cotton roots, and therefore should be used to improve root health in continuous cropping systems.
Highlights
Organic manure and biochar amendments have been used in agriculture to improve soil fertility and enhance crop productivity
The total root length and root surface area were higher in the bud stage than the harvesting stage (Fig. 1A,D)
In the absence of biochar, organic manure application significantly increased total root length, total root volume, and root surface area in the bud and harvesting stages compared with the control
Summary
Organic manure and biochar amendments have been used in agriculture to improve soil fertility and enhance crop productivity. Demand for nutrients causes imbalances in soil nutrients in cotton fields, affects the growth, nutrient uptake, and utilization efficiency of roots, and reduces yield. The yield of cotton fields continuously cropped for the same number of years was correlated with soil nutrient content. Organic amendment (chicken manure) improved first order lateral root number, tap root length, fine root morphology (length, surface area, and volume) in seedlings, organic fertilizer treatments tended to increase soil ammonium, nitrate, available P, total P, and organic C content[15]. Biochar can improve soil physical and chemical properties, reduce nutrient leaching, optimize soil microbial population structure and richness, and promote the growth and function of crop roots[20]. Plants grown in biochar-amended soil had greater root mass and root length densities, and total and individual root lengths for secondary and tertiary roots compared with plants grown in unamended soil[22]
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