Biochar Amends Saline Soil and Enhances Maize Growth: Three-Year Field Experiment Findings

Abstract

Soil salinization is a significant obstacle to agricultural development in arid and semiarid regions. While short-term experiments have demonstrated the effective improvement of saline soils through biochar amendment, the long-term efficacy in sustainably ameliorating such soils remains uncertain. Addressing this knowledge gap, this study investigated the long-term effects of biochar amendment in a field setting by applying different rates of biochar to a salt-affected soil and cultivating silage maize for three consecutive years. The comprehensive assessment includes not only maize growth but also changes in soil physical and chemical properties over the study period. The results reveal a notable elevation in maize above-ground dry matter, directly correlated to the enhanced uptake of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Additionally, biochar application improves saline soil physical properties, including reduced bulk density (1–23%), increased soil large pores (0.7–12%), and macroaggregates (24–141%), and chemical properties, including a decrease in exchangeable sodium percentage (35–48%), and an increase in soil total organic carbon (112–857%), total nitrogen (9–198%), available nitrogen (12–49%), phosphorus (141–538%) and potassium (57–895%). These improvements ultimately resulted in better maize growth. However, the amelioration effect of biochar on these soil properties gradually diminished over the three-year study. Consequently, this study suggests that biochar is a promising soil amendment that can enhance maize growth in saline soil for at least three years in a field experiment, providing valuable insights for sustainable agricultural practices in salt-affected regions.