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Variability of Biochar Performance Among Soil Amendments and Enzymes Activity

Received: 1 January 2021    Accepted: 15 January 2021    Published: 27 February 2021
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Abstract

In a randomized complete block design, a field experiment was established with fourteen soil treatments: no mulch control (NM native soil), sewage sludge (SS), horse manure (HM), chicken manure (CM), vermicompost (Vermi), commercial organic fertilizer (Org), inorganic fertilizer (Inorg), and biochar added to NM, SS, HM, CM, Vermi, Org, and Inorg. The main objective was to assess the impact of various soil amendments (SA) and biochar added to SA on soil urease, invertase, acid and alkaline phosphatase activity involved in N, C, and P cycles, respectively. The addition of biochar to Vermi amended soil increased urease and invertase activity by 54 and 50%, respectively compared to soil mixed with Vermi alone (not amended with biochar). CM amended with biochar did not increase alkaline phosphatase activity compared to CM alone. Acid phosphatases activity decreased by about 21% after the addition of biochar to Vermi amended soil. Biochar added to HM and NM soil reduced soil alkaline phosphatase activity by 49 and 41%, respectively. The effect of soil amendments before and after the addition of biochar on soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nitrates (NO3-), and ammonia (NH4+) concentration was also investigated. No significant differences were found among soil treatments in soil pH values. Whereas Vermi mixed with biochar (VermiBio) significantly increased EC values indicating an increase in soil total ions compared to all other amendments tested. Addition of CM to native soil increased (NH4+) ions by 7.8 times compared to the control treatment. Whereas biochar added to CM (CMBio) increased (NO3-) ions by 2.7 times. We concluded that the duality in biochar impact on soil enzymes activity and amendments tested in this investigation requires prior testing for reconsidering the use of biochar in agricultural systems.

Published in International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16
Page(s) 66-76
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Organic Materials, Microorganisms, Urease Activity, Invertase Activity, Phosphatase Activity

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    George Fouad Antonious, Eric Todd Turley, Debendra Shrestha Shrestha, Mohammad Hasan Dawood. (2021). Variability of Biochar Performance Among Soil Amendments and Enzymes Activity. International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences, 7(1), 66-76. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16

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    George Fouad Antonious; Eric Todd Turley; Debendra Shrestha Shrestha; Mohammad Hasan Dawood. Variability of Biochar Performance Among Soil Amendments and Enzymes Activity. Int. J. Appl. Agric. Sci. 2021, 7(1), 66-76. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16

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    AMA Style

    George Fouad Antonious, Eric Todd Turley, Debendra Shrestha Shrestha, Mohammad Hasan Dawood. Variability of Biochar Performance Among Soil Amendments and Enzymes Activity. Int J Appl Agric Sci. 2021;7(1):66-76. doi: 10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16,
      author = {George Fouad Antonious and Eric Todd Turley and Debendra Shrestha Shrestha and Mohammad Hasan Dawood},
      title = {Variability of Biochar Performance Among Soil Amendments and Enzymes Activity},
      journal = {International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences},
      volume = {7},
      number = {1},
      pages = {66-76},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijaas.20210701.16},
      abstract = {In a randomized complete block design, a field experiment was established with fourteen soil treatments: no mulch control (NM native soil), sewage sludge (SS), horse manure (HM), chicken manure (CM), vermicompost (Vermi), commercial organic fertilizer (Org), inorganic fertilizer (Inorg), and biochar added to NM, SS, HM, CM, Vermi, Org, and Inorg. The main objective was to assess the impact of various soil amendments (SA) and biochar added to SA on soil urease, invertase, acid and alkaline phosphatase activity involved in N, C, and P cycles, respectively. The addition of biochar to Vermi amended soil increased urease and invertase activity by 54 and 50%, respectively compared to soil mixed with Vermi alone (not amended with biochar). CM amended with biochar did not increase alkaline phosphatase activity compared to CM alone. Acid phosphatases activity decreased by about 21% after the addition of biochar to Vermi amended soil. Biochar added to HM and NM soil reduced soil alkaline phosphatase activity by 49 and 41%, respectively. The effect of soil amendments before and after the addition of biochar on soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nitrates (NO3-), and ammonia (NH4+) concentration was also investigated. No significant differences were found among soil treatments in soil pH values. Whereas Vermi mixed with biochar (VermiBio) significantly increased EC values indicating an increase in soil total ions compared to all other amendments tested. Addition of CM to native soil increased (NH4+) ions by 7.8 times compared to the control treatment. Whereas biochar added to CM (CMBio) increased (NO3-) ions by 2.7 times. We concluded that the duality in biochar impact on soil enzymes activity and amendments tested in this investigation requires prior testing for reconsidering the use of biochar in agricultural systems.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Variability of Biochar Performance Among Soil Amendments and Enzymes Activity
    AU  - George Fouad Antonious
    AU  - Eric Todd Turley
    AU  - Debendra Shrestha Shrestha
    AU  - Mohammad Hasan Dawood
    Y1  - 2021/02/27
    PY  - 2021
    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16
    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16
    T2  - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
    JF  - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
    JO  - International Journal of Applied Agricultural Sciences
    SP  - 66
    EP  - 76
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2469-7885
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijaas.20210701.16
    AB  - In a randomized complete block design, a field experiment was established with fourteen soil treatments: no mulch control (NM native soil), sewage sludge (SS), horse manure (HM), chicken manure (CM), vermicompost (Vermi), commercial organic fertilizer (Org), inorganic fertilizer (Inorg), and biochar added to NM, SS, HM, CM, Vermi, Org, and Inorg. The main objective was to assess the impact of various soil amendments (SA) and biochar added to SA on soil urease, invertase, acid and alkaline phosphatase activity involved in N, C, and P cycles, respectively. The addition of biochar to Vermi amended soil increased urease and invertase activity by 54 and 50%, respectively compared to soil mixed with Vermi alone (not amended with biochar). CM amended with biochar did not increase alkaline phosphatase activity compared to CM alone. Acid phosphatases activity decreased by about 21% after the addition of biochar to Vermi amended soil. Biochar added to HM and NM soil reduced soil alkaline phosphatase activity by 49 and 41%, respectively. The effect of soil amendments before and after the addition of biochar on soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nitrates (NO3-), and ammonia (NH4+) concentration was also investigated. No significant differences were found among soil treatments in soil pH values. Whereas Vermi mixed with biochar (VermiBio) significantly increased EC values indicating an increase in soil total ions compared to all other amendments tested. Addition of CM to native soil increased (NH4+) ions by 7.8 times compared to the control treatment. Whereas biochar added to CM (CMBio) increased (NO3-) ions by 2.7 times. We concluded that the duality in biochar impact on soil enzymes activity and amendments tested in this investigation requires prior testing for reconsidering the use of biochar in agricultural systems.
    VL  - 7
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Division of Environmental Studies, College of Agriculture, Community and the Sciences, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, USA

  • Division of Environmental Studies, College of Agriculture, Community and the Sciences, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, USA

  • Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA

  • Department of Horticulture and Landscape, College of Agriculture, University of Kufa, El-Najaf, Iraq

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