Abstract
Soil acidification and charland formation through alluvial sand deposition are emerging threats to food security in Bangladesh in that they endanger crop production in about 35% of its territory. The integrated plant nutrient system (IPNS) is a globally accepted nutrient management approach designed to revive the damaged soils’ fertility level. Total organic carbon (TOC) in soil is a composite index of soil quality that has consequences for agricultural productivity and natural soil ecosystems. This study assesses the impacts of using biochar, compost, poultry litter, and vermicompost-based IPNS approaches on labile and TOC pools, TOC stocks, lability and management indices, and microbial populations under different cropping patterns after 2 years in acidic and charland soils. The application of IPNS treatments increased microbial biomass carbon (MBC) by 9.1–50.0% in acidic soil and 8.8–41.2% in charland soil compared to the untreated soil, with the largest increase in poultry manure biochar (PMB). Microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN) rose from 20 to 180% in charland soil compared to the control, although no effect was observed in acidic soil. Basal respiration (BR) rose by 43–429% in acidic soil and 16–189% in charland soil compared to the control, exhibiting the highest value in PMB. IPNS treatments significantly improved SOC and POC but did not affect POXc and bulk density in both soils. The PMB and organic fertilizer (OF, compost)-based IPNS wielded the greatest influence on the lability index of MBC in acidic soils and the management index of MBC in both soils. This is despite the fact that IPNS did not affect the lability and management indices of active carbon (AC). IPNS treatments increased the stocks of SOC and MBC in both the soils and POC stock in acidic soil. IPNS treatments significantly boosted the bacterial and fungal populations in both soils, despite having no effect on phosphorus-solubilizing bacteria (PSB). Thus, PMB and OF (compost)-based IPNS may be a better nutrient management practice in degraded acidic and charland soils. This is especially the case in terms of soil quality improvement, soil carbon sequestration, and microbial enrichment.
Highlights
Acidic and charland soils currently constitute a major problem in soils comprising about 7.52 Mha of land and seriously affecting crop production in more than 36% of the territory in Bangladesh (Satter and Islam, 2010; FRG, 2018; Islam et al, 2021a; Uddin et al, 2021)
The research work was conducted in two nutrient poor soil sites in Bangladesh to evaluate the impacts of different integrated plant nutrient systems (IPNS) on: firstly, soil labile and total organic carbon (TOC) pools; and secondly, indices and microbial populations under different cropping patterns
Our findings suggest that combining various soil additions with chemical fertilizer had varying impacts on soil microbial biomass, basal respiration, carbon pools, carbon stocks, lability index, management index, and microbial population
Summary
Acidic and charland soils currently constitute a major problem in soils comprising about 7.52 Mha of land and seriously affecting crop production in more than 36% of the territory in Bangladesh (Satter and Islam, 2010; FRG, 2018; Islam et al, 2021a; Uddin et al, 2021). The integrated plant nutrient system (IPNS), which combines chemical and organic fertilizers, is a widely accepted technology for sustaining soil health and its fertility, and supplying crops with their nutrient demands on a regular basis (Zhang et al, 2014a; Selim and Al-Owied, 2017; Selim, 2018; Jahangir et al, 2021a) Soil amendments such as poultry manure can significantly increase the SOC content, total exchangeable bases, pH, and microbial population (Kobierski et al, 2017; Islam et al, 2021a; Islam et al, 2021b). Lack of experimental evidence on biochar application as an IPNS approach in tropical nutrientpoor soils is hindering our understanding of the potential of biochar application for better soil health and crop productivity in these soils
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