Impact of Biochar Reapplication on Physical Soil Properties

Abstract

The Biochar is getting attention of agronomist worldwide due to its positive effect on physical soil properties in last years. The influence of biochar on physical soil properties has been studied, but only few results was obtained from the field experiments. The main objective of this paper was to study the effect of repeated dose of the biochar on physical soil properties (water content, temperature). The biochar used for the field experiment was produced from paper fiber sludge and grain husks (1:1 w/w) by pyrolysis at 550 degrees C for 30 minutes. In this study, the soil water content (SWC) and temperature was measured in 0.05-0.10 m depth at experimental plots which received dose 20 t.ha−1 (in 2014); repeated dose 20 t.ha−1 (in 2018) and 0 t/ha (control) of biochar amendment at the Malanta area, Slovakia (48°19’23”N 18°09’01”E) in the year 2018. Our field measurements show the positive effect of biochar on SWC. SWC was higher (statistically significant difference) at plots with older dose of the biochar compared to plots with repeated dose and control plots. No statistically significant difference was between plots after reapplication of the biochar and control plots. It could be caused by short time period between biochar reapplication and SWC measurements which means that biochar incorporation to soil was limited. There was no significant difference between average daily temperatures on plots with variant dose of the biochar. Soil warming up offset could be observed during sunrise. It could be caused by darker colour of biochar.