Journal
COMMUNICATIONS IN SOIL SCIENCE AND PLANT ANALYSIS
Volume 50, Issue 14, Pages 1732-1742Publisher
TAYLOR & FRANCIS INC
DOI: 10.1080/00103624.2019.1632343
Keywords
Hardwood charcoal; soil nutrients; nitrate; zea mays
Categories
Funding
- Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, United States Department of Agriculture [GNE14-075]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Interest is rising in amending agricultural soils with carbon-rich materials such as charcoal to improve soil fertility. The objectives of this field study were to evaluate sugar maple hardwood charcoal (biochar) as a soil amendment. The design of the experiment was split-plot with five replications, repeated over two growing seasons with sweet corn (Zea mays L.) production. Main plots were allocated to five application amounts of biochar including 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% by weight (0, 40, 80, 120, and 160 Mg ha(-1), respectively). Sub-plots consisted of applications of 0 or 56 kg nitrogen ha(-1) as calcium ammonium nitrate. Soil pH increased from pH 5.8 to 6.7 with biochar additions. The percent base saturation was increased due to the retention of calcium, magnesium, and potassium. Soil phosphate availability increased. Sweet corn yield in the biochar-amended plots was depressed except with the 2% application. The result of the study revealed that no more than 2% application of sugar maple hardwood biochar should be applied for sweet corn growth.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available