Substituting urea with biogas slurry and hydrothermal carbonization aqueous product could decrease NH3 volatilization and increase soil DOM in wheat growth cycle

Biogas slurry (BS) and hydrothermal carbonization aqueous products (HAP), which are rich in nitrogen (N) and dissolved organic matter (DOM), can be used as organic fertilizer to substitute inorganic N fertilizer. To evaluate the effects of co-application of BS and HAP on the ammonia (NH3) volatilization and soil DOM content in wheat growth season, we compared six treatments that substituting 50%, 75%, and 100% of urea-N with BS plus HAP at low (L) or high (H) ratio, named BCL50, BCL75, BCL100, BCH50, BCH75, BCH100, respectively. Meanwhile, urea alone treatment was set as the control (CKU). The results showed that both BCL and BCH treatments significantly mitigate the NH3 volatilizations by 9.1%-45.6% in comparison with CKU (P < 0.05), whose effects were correlated with soil NH4+-N content. In addition, the decrease in soil urease activity contributed to the lower NH3 volatilization following application of BS plus HAP. Notably, BS plus HAP applications increased the microbial byproduct-and humic acid-like substances in soil by 9.9%-74.5% and 100.7%-451.9%, respectively. Consequently, BS and HAP amended treatments significantly increased soil humification index and DOM content by 13.7%-41.2% and 38.4%-158.7%, respectively (P < 0.05). This study suggested that BS and HAP could be co -applied into agricultural soil as a potential alternative of inorganic fertilizer N, which can decrease NH3 loss but increase soil fertility.

Automated summary

The co-application of biogas slurry and hydrothermal carbonization aqueous products can reduce ammonia volatilization and increase soil organic matter content. This alternative approach can decrease the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer and improve soil fertility.