Combined effects of straw-derived biochar and bio-based polymer-coated urea on nitrogen use efficiency and cotton yield

Xiaojing Yu,Xiaofei Tian,Yanyan Lu,Zhiguang Liu,Yanle Guo,Jianqiu Chen,Chengliang Li,Min Zhang,Yongshan Wan

doi:10.1080/09542299.2018.1518730

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe interactive effects of straw-derived biochar and bio-based polymer-coated urea (BPCU) was examined with a pot experiment conducted in 2014 and 2015. Using a split-plot design, the main plot factor was the form of straw use and the sub-plot factor was the type of N fertilizer. The soil inorganic nitrogen (N), organic carbon and lint yield of biochar treatments were significantly higher than for straw treatments. Meanwhile, the BPCU treatments enhanced nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and yield over urea treatments. Biochar combined with BPCU resulted in the highest lint yield, 14.3–108.2% increasing over the other treatments, with NUE 27.1–63.5% increased. We attributed this superior performance to the interactive effects between BPCU’s controlled supply of N according to cotton’s N requirements and biochar’s functionalities in enhancing soil quality. Thus, the application of biochar and BPCU is a sustainable strategy to improve soil quality and increase cotton yield.

Highlights

IntroductionIncorporation of crop straw into the soil has been widely recommended for sustaining soil organic matter and improving crop productivity [1]
Straw is an important biological resource in agricultural production systems
While previous research suggests that the effect of biochar addition on soil available K or P content depends on soil type and the nature of biochar [30,31,32], our study indicated that soil-available K and P contents were not significantly affected by the straw and biochar treatments though soil-available K contents of biochar treatments were higher than C0 treatments (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Incorporation of crop straw into the soil has been widely recommended for sustaining soil organic matter and improving crop productivity [1]. Alternative and sustainable ways of using straw for soil management are needed to enhance soil quality while increasing crop yield. Adding biochar to croplands has been proposed worldwide as a technically sound strategy to increase soil organic carbon stocks as part of climate change mitigation in agriculture [4,5,6]. This practice may change soil N dynamics by altered transformation rates [7], thereby reducing

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