Effect of biochar application on nitrogen use efficiency for sustainable and productive agriculture under different field crops

Abstract

This study was undertaken to investigate crop productivity, nitrogen use efficiency (AE_N, agronomic efficiency of N; ARF_N, apparent recovery fraction of N), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emission after biochar (BB, bamboo biochar) and nitrogen fertilizer (N) application in paddy and upland agricultural soils. The selected rice and Chinese cabbage were grown in the paddy soil and upland soil, respectively. Each treatment group, comprising N100% (N, 90 kg ha⁻¹ for rice; 320 kg ha⁻¹ for Chinese cabbage), BB + N35%, BB + N70%, and BB + N100%, was separated by a Control treatment. Overall, the increased nitrogen input and uptake resulted in improved crop growth. Under each experimental condition, soils treated with BB + N100% treatment had higher crop growth, nitrogen contents, and nitrogen uptake, as compared to other treatments. Nitrogen use efficiency was investigated independently of crop productivity results, and biochar played an important role in this assessment. In particular, both AE_N and ARF_N related to crop nutrient availability were significantly increased in the BB + N35% and BB + N70% treatments, as compared to the N100% treatment. In addition, N₂O emission was reduced by decreasing the N input, and biochar contributed to N₂O reduction in paddy and upland conditions. These results indicate that nitrogen use efficiency can be increased in agricultural soils supplemented with biochar application, such as paddy and upland field cultivations in South Korea. Additionally, it is considered good agricultural land management to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers, and practice sustainable and productive agriculture.

Keywords:

• agriculture
• bamboo biochar
• nitrogen fertilizer
• nitrogen use efficiency
• nitrous oxide

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) through the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Korea (NRF-2019R1A4A1029125). Moreover, this work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (NRF-2019R1F1A1058106 and NRF-2020R1I1A1A01058224). Also, this work was supported by Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (IPET) through Technology Commercialization Support Program, funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) (821007-03).