Abstract
Efficient use of co-composted organic manure with biochar is one of the sustainable management practices in an agriculture system to increase soil fertility and crop yield. The objectives of this research are to evaluate the use of co-composted biochar, biochar in formulation with poultry litter (PL), and PL compost on soil properties and maize growth. Organic amendments were applied at 10 Mg ha−1, and synthetic fertilizer was applied at the recommended rate of maize (N: P2O5: K2O at 60:60:40 kg ha−1). The results showed that addition of organic amendment significantly increased the total biomass parameter compared to the control, which ranged from 23.2% to 988.5%. The pure biochar treatment yielded lower biomass than the control by 27.1%, which was attributed to its low nutrient content. Consequently, the application of the co-composted biochar achieved higher plant height and aerial portion, which ranged from 46.86% to 25.74% and 7.8% to 108.2%, respectively, in comparison to the recommended fertilizer rate. In addition, the soil amended with co-composted biochar had a significant increase in soil organic matter and had significantly higher chlorophyll and nutrient concentrations in plants, which increased with an increase in the biochar ratio of the co-composts. This was probably attributed to the release of the nutrients retained during composting, thereby possibly making the co-composted biochar act as a slow-release fertilizer. In conclusion, the addition of organic manure with biochar enhanced the nutrient supply by gradual release in comparison to the mineral fertilizer.
Highlights
Deficiency of nutrients and depletion of organic matter, as well as reduced quality and fertility of soil have been regarded as primary factors that lead to decreased food security and crop production [1,2]
The largest responses were found with the combined application of compost and biochar, which agrees with many studies [35,41,42]
The treatment CO4 recorded a significantly higher chlorophyll content of 44.20, which occurred at the plant’s later growth stages, which indicates the slow release of nitrogen, while a significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower chlorophyll content of 21 was recorded in the biochar treatment (RHB) by which this occurrence was mainly due to nitrogen mineralization by soil microbes and retention of nitrogen on the biochar surface [13]
Summary
Deficiency of nutrients and depletion of organic matter, as well as reduced quality and fertility of soil have been regarded as primary factors that lead to decreased food security and crop production [1,2]. Such issues are dominant in tropical and arid soils that are worsened by mounting pressure toward land use, with extensive cultivation to raise the crop yield as a result of food demand and population growth [3,4]. Most agricultural soils are greatly weathered and belong to the order of ultisols and oxisols, which make up approximately 20% and 23%
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