Rice-residue biochar influences phosphorus availability in soil with contrasting P status |
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Authors: | Subham Mukherjee Jagdeep Singh Bhupinder Pal Singh |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Soil Science, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141 004, India;2. New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, Menangle, NSW, Australia |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACTThermo-chemical conversion of crop residues to produce biochar is an emerging strategy in the context of sustainable phosphorous (P) use and residue management. An incubation study for 90 d was conducted to investigate the effects of rice-residue biochar (0, 10, 20 and 40 g kg?1) in combination with inorganic-P (KH2PO4) (0, 25 and 50 mg kg?1) on phosphorous availability in medium- and high-P status soils. Increasing biochar addition rates alone or in combination with inorganic-P resulted in a significant increase in P pools, i.e. plant available P or Olsen-P (from 8 to 132 mg kg?1 in medium-P and 15 to 160 mg kg?1 in high-P soils), microbial biomass P and various mineral-bound inorganic-P fractions in the order (Ca-P > organic-P > Al-P > loosely held/soluble-P > Fe-P > reductant soluble-P). Further, lower phosphatase activity (19–50%) with increasing rates of biochar addition in both soils elucidates the ability of biochar to act as a long-term source of available P in the experimental soils. The results demonstrate that rice-residue biochar can directly or indirectly enhance the status of available P in soils and hence can be used as a beneficial amendment to meet the crop P demand. |
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Keywords: | Biochar rates soil P status phosphorous P sorption inorganic-P |
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