Effect of Date Biochar Pyrolyzed at Different Temperature on Physiochemical Properties of Sandy Soil and Wheat Crop Response

ABSTRACT

Date biochar (DB) was obtained by pyrolyzing date residues at four different temperatures (300, 400, 500, and 600°C referred as DB3; DB4; DB5; and DB6). Three experiments were performed: 1) assessment of wheat crop growth 2) water retention in the sandy soil 3) soil physiochemical properties after the application of DB to the soil. Results showed that the low temperature pyrolysis biochar (LTDB; DB3 and DB4) showed that the wheat biomass (by 47 and 29%) and water-holding capacity (by 55% and 32%) was improved when applied along with NPK fertilizer. Moreover, LTDB had positive impacts on soil enzyme activities, i.e., Phosphomonoestrase; Urease; Catalase; Acid Phosphate; Dehydrogenase; and β-glucosidase by 63, 59, 77, 29, 56, and 43%, respectively, over high-temperature DB pyrolysis (HTDB). In the incubation study, LTDB not only improved the physicochemical properties (bulk density, total porosity, pH, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, soil aggregation stability), but also improved the water retention. Additionally, carbon dioxide emission was increased in HTDB and the microbial activities are increased in the LTDB. Overall, LTDB improved the soil fertility and productivity over to HTDB in sandy soil.

KEYWORDS:

• Sandy soil
• biochar
• wheat
• soil physicochemical properties
• soil enzymes

Acknowledgments

The author wants to acknowledge the generous funding by the ORIC, COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Pakistan during the course of study. I also want to thanks to Dr. Muhammad Aqeel Sarwar NARC, Islamabad for his significant contribution.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Author Contributions

The author contribution is given as “conceptualization, H.M.R.J. and M.A.; methodology, H.M.R.J. and M.A.; software, M.S., F.N., M.J. and A.A.; validation, N.I. and H.R.; formal analysis, R.Q.; investigation, H.M.R.J.; resources, H.M.R.J.; data curation, H.M.R.J. and M.A.; writing-original draft preparation, H.M.R.J. and M.A.; writing-review and editing, N.M.; visualization, S.I.Z.; supervision, H.M.R.J. and M.A.; project administration, H.M.R.J.; funding acquisition, H.M.R.J and M.A.”

Additional information

Funding

The analysis of research and other expenses are fulfilled through COMSATS research support program (CRGP) by the ORIC, CUI, Pakistan.