Carbon dioxide and gaseous nitrogen emissions from biochar‐amended soils under wastewater irrigated urban vegetable production of Burkina Faso and Ghana

Abstract

AbstractTo quantify carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses in soils of West African urban and peri‐urban agriculture (UPA) we measured fluxes of CO2‐C, N2O‐N, and NH3‐N from irrigated fields in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Tamale, Ghana, under different fertilization and (waste‐)water regimes. Compared with the unamended control, application of fertilizers increased average cumulative CO2‐C emissions during eight cropping cycles in Ouagadougou by 103% and during seven cropping cycles in Tamale by 42%. Calculated total emissions measured across all cropping cycles reached 14 t C ha−1 in Ouagadougou, accounting for 73% of the C applied as organic fertilizer over a period of two years at this site, and 9 t C ha−1 in Tamale. Compared with unamended control plots, fertilizer application increased N2O‐N emissions in Ouagadougou during different cropping cycles, ranging from 37 to 360%, while average NH3‐N losses increased by 670%. Fertilizer application had no significant effects on N2O‐N losses in Tamale. While wastewater irrigation did not significantly enhance CO2‐C emissions in Ouagadougou, average CO2‐C emissions in Tamale were 71% (1.6 t C ha−1) higher on wastewater plots compared with those of the control (0.9 t C ha−1). However, no significant effects of wastewater on N2O‐N and NH3‐N emissions were observed at either location. Although biochar did not affect N2O‐N and NH3‐N losses, the addition of biochar could contribute to reducing CO2‐C emissions from urban garden soils. When related to crop production, CO2‐C emissions were higher on control than on fertilized plots, but this was not the case for absolute CO2‐C emissions.