Abstract
Land degradation is an endless challenge in the world. Thus, rehabilitation with organic amendments (OAs) is an urgent priority issue. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of biochar and other OAs application on soil physicochemical properties and growth parameters of cover crops in greenhouse. Biochar, compost and manure were used as OAs. Soil samples were collected from nine random corners of 30 cm depth and composited. In each experiment, five treatments were considered (biochar, compost, manure, mixed and control) at 1:1 ratio of OAs and soil in a pot, with completely randomized design arrangement in triplicate. The field experiment was made on completely randomized block design and each block contained five 41 x 4 m plots assigned at random within the block and separated by 1 m walkways. OAs additions increased soil pH (5.69-8.13), cation exchange capacity (43.78-49.98 cmolc/kg), organic carbon (1.41-2.46%), organic matter (2.43-3.91%), total nitrogen (0.13-0.76%), available P (18.89-28.53 ppm) and (iron, Fe, manganese, Mn, copper, Cu and zinc, Zn) in comparison to non-treated soil. Tripartite treatments had the largest effect on the biomass of cover crops with 3.43 g fivefold of the control (0.7 g) in alfalfa and 4.54 g twofold of the control (2.07 g) in grass pea p ≤ 0.05. Both in field and greenhouse experiments combination of biochar and other OAs showed a better soil fertility increment and plant growth parameters. The study concluded that there is a synergistic effect in OAs on the soil fertility restoration and plant growth performance.
Highlights
Soil fertility is the vital ecological elements for the survival of biota and environmental services to play role in the conservation of biodiversity [1]
The amendments with biochar, compost, manure alone or in combination had affected the physicochemical properties of soil differently compared to the control (Table III)
Soil pH increase was in the order of BAS > BCMAS >CAS > MAS compared to the control
Summary
Soil fertility is the vital ecological elements for the survival of biota and environmental services to play role in the conservation of biodiversity [1]. Global land assets are severely threatened due to degradation and unsustainable land use practices that need urgent calls to curb the increasing land deterioration. Rehabilitating degraded land is highly essential for regaining ecosystem services such as biodiversity renovation that ensures perpetuation of future generations [2]. The aggravation of land degradation (LD) and restoration to its original state is one of the pronounced and growing concern in the world [3]. LD is a single largest 21st century threat to soil.
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