Abstract
Due to climate change the productive agricultural sectors have started to face various challenges, such as soil drought. Biochar is studied as a promising soil amendment. We studied the effect of a former biochar application (in 2014) and re-application (in 2018) on bulk density, porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water content and selected soil water constants at the experimental site in Dolná Malanta (Slovakia) in 2019. Biochar was applied and re-applied at the rates of 0, 10 and 20 t ha−1. Nitrogen fertilizer was applied annually at application levels N0, N1 and N2. In 2019, these levels were represented by the doses of 0, 108 and 162 kg N ha−1, respectively. We found that biochar applied at 20 t ha−1 without fertilizer significantly reduced bulk density by 12% and increased porosity by 12%. During the dry period, a relative increase in soil water content was observed at all biochar treatments—the largest after re-application of biochar at a dose of 20 t ha−1 at all fertilization levels. The biochar application also significantly increased plant available water. We suppose that change in the soil structure following a biochar amendment was one of the main reasons of our observations.
Highlights
The threat of global climate change and its negative effects is currently a serious problem
We found that biochar applied at 20 t ha−1 without fertilizer significantly reduced bulk density by 12%
When evaluating the effect of biochar application without nitrogen fertilizer (Table 5) on bulk density (BD), we found that a gradual increase in the biochar dose gradually decreased BD
Summary
The threat of global climate change and its negative effects is currently a serious problem. An increase in potential evapotranspiration and a decrease in soil moisture can be expected in the south of Central Europe [1,2,3]. This means that the soils will gradually dry out [4,5] and at such soil moisture levels the plants will suffer from a lack of water, which may adversely affect the normal development of vegetation and crop yields [6,7]. The potential benefits of biochar as a soil amendment are well identified in the literature These include a carbon sequestration, improved crop yields, and enhanced water retention [10].
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