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The Effect Of Biochar From Plant Materials On Agricultural Acid Sulfate Soil: A Laboratory Incubation, Syazwan Sulaiman, Namasivayam Navaranjan, Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez, Zohrah Sulaiman, Kathereen Liew

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

The scarcity of suitable arable land has led to the development of acid sulfate soil for cultivation. The major problems of acid sulfate soil are the inherent low pH and available phosphorus (P) as well as the mobilization of toxic elements such as aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe), rendering the soil unfavourable for crop production. The present work aimed to evaluate the effect of biochar from plant materials on the selected parameters of acid sulfate soil in a laboratory incubation, with unamended control and dolomite treatment soils for comparison. The application of biochar significantly increased (P < 0.05) soil pH by 0.4-0.6 units as well as the soil available P by 13.1 mg kg-1 relative to the control. The soil exchangeable Al was significantly reduced (by 2.4 cmol kg-1 when compared with the control treatment. The dolomite treatment was superior relative to biochar application in increasing soil pH and decreasing Al. The dolomite application, however, was inferior to biochar treatment in increasing soil available P. Moreover, no favourable change was observed in available Fe with the applications of either biochar or lime. These results indicated that biochar has the potential for the amelioration of acid sulfate soil, especially in increasing available P. Further studies should explore the effectiveness of biochar and lime co-application in altering a wider range of soil chemical parameters to inform management options of acid sulfate soil for cultivation.

Tillage, Green Manuring And Crop Residue Management Impacts On Crop Productivity, Potassium Use Efficiency And Potassium Fractions Under Rice-Wheat System, Sandeep Sharma, Pritpal Singh, Hayssam M. Ali, Manzer Hussain Siddiqui, Javed Iqbal

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The conventional crop production practices including intensive tillage and open field crop residue burning in world’ largest rice-wheat system (RWS) are adversely affecting crop productivity besides deteriorating natural resources and ecosystems’ sustainability. In order to improve system productivity, potassium (K) use efficiency and apparent K balance, adoption of conservation tillage in a RWS with residue management is considered highly effective. We therefore, studied the effect of wheat straw retention and green manure (GM) in rice (main plot treatment), and tillage and rice residue management in subsequent wheat (sub-plot treatments) on crop productivity, K use efficiency and its transformation amongst different …

Conversion Of Native Grassland To Coniferous Forests Decreased Stocks Of Soil Organic Carbon And Microbial Biomass, Lidong Li, Elnaz Hosseiniaghdam, Rhae A. Drijber, Elizabeth Jeske, Tala Awada, J. Hiller, Michael Kaiser

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Aims Encroachment of woody species into grasslands is a global phenomenon that affects ecosystem services, including soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and microbial community structure. We determined stocks of SOC and soil microbial biomass as affected by conversion of grasslands to coniferous forests.

Methods We examined SOC and soil δ¹³C signatures under three vegetation covers: native grasslands, eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), and ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa), at six soil depths (0 − 10, 10 − 30, 30 − 100, 100 − 170, 170 − 240, 240 − 300 cm). Fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) …

Exogenous Application Of Growth Regulators Improves The Growth And Quality Of Dahlia Variabilis L., Shahbaz Khan, Naeem Abbas, Zuhair Hasnain, Sami Ullah, Imran Hussain, Afroz Rais, Muhammad Atif Ghafoor, Danish Ibrar, Sohail Irshad, Maham Saddique, Muhammad Amjad Bashir, Samra Naseem, Muhammad Musawir Khan, Jawaher Alkahtani

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

Dahlia (Dahlia variabilis L.), a bulb crop sold as cut flower, garden ornamental/potted plant, becomes a popular cut flower in the world. This experiment was designed to study the effects of foliar applied gibberellic acid, zinc, ascorbic acid, and thiamine on the growth and flower attributes of dahlia. The study was conducted under greenhouse conditions at the Floriculture Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. There were thirteen treatment with three levels each; gibberellic acid, zinc sulphate, ascorbic acid, and thiamine. First, foliar application was done at vegetative stage (after 45 d of transplantation) and second, at the flowering …

Creeper Legume, In Conjunction With Biochar, Is A Potential Tool To Minimize Soil Erosion, Sujani De Silva, Priyantha Indralal Yapa, Kushani Mahatantila, Saurav Das, Bijesh Maharjan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Accelerated soil erosion and landslides are destructive consequences of road development and intensive agriculture in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. Properly designed vegetation covers can play a vital role in erosion control. Identifying a plant that can adapt to eroded land with a low-nutrient supply is critical for natural erosion management. A perennial creeper legume, Vigna marina, adaptable for marginal lands and used to control soil erosion in Australia, was introduced to Sri Lanka via the 2004 tsunami. The objective of this study was to assess V. marina under five different soil substrates, including a reference treatment (RT) …

Influence Of Biochar As A Soil Amendment On Soil Water Content And Wild Blueberry Physiology, Abigayl Novak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Maine wild (or lowbush) blueberries (Vaccinium angustifolium Ait.) continue to face challenges imposed by climate change. Reduced frequency of precipitation and increased drought conditions have negatively impacted this crop since it resides in sandy soils with limited retention of water and nutrients. The wild blueberry plants growing in water- and nutrient-poor sandy soils are likely to have poor resilience to drought, resulting in a decline in berry yield during drought years. Thus, there is an urgent need to find a drought management solution for wild blueberries. Compared with other drought management practices, such as irrigation systems, mulching, and adopting drought-resistant …

Systematic Review: Effect Of Cover Crop On Working Farm, Noella A. Bahatsi

Honors Theses

On-farm research is when research techniques such as randomized, replicated treatments strips and large-scale techniques are used on actual farms or ranches. Due to a great deal of interest and curiosity among farmers and researchers who wish to make their farming methods more profitable, efficient, and/or sustainable, this type of research has been conducted more frequently each year. On-farm research has contributed to economic growth and the transfer of knowledge to farmers because of fresh discoveries and upgraded technology (Lacoste et al., 2022). This is also where farmers collaborate with researchers to test new management practices and technologies providing unbiased …

Tracking Nitrogen Mineralization In The Presence Of Biochar Utilizing Complementary-Method Assays In East Central South Dakota, Andrew Calvin Engel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding soil N transformations in agricultural systems of the Northern Great Plains is crucial for guiding effective soil and nutrient management of this vital cropland. While the use of biochar in agriculture has attracted great attention recently, little has been reported on the seasonal dynamics of soil nitrogen (N) transformation and its response to biochar application. A field experiment was conducted over 2 seasons, spring (6/3/19-6/24/19) and summer (7/26/19-8/16/19), using four treatments or control soil, urea (224 kg N/ha), biochar (46,250 kg/ha), and urea+biochar (224 kg N/ha and 46,250 kg/ha, respectively). The results for both seasons showed biochar had no …

Evaluation For Using Expended Bioelectrochemical Systems As Soil Amendments For Improved Corn Plant Growth And A Drought Resistant Soil., Jackson Lee Sauers

Theses and Dissertations

A long-held practice is to mix agricultural soil with a soil amendment to improve growing conditions in crops. A common soil amendment is biosolids produced from both municipal and dairy wastewater due to the macro- and micronutrients within it. Both the agricultural and wastewater industries are participating in the Circular Economy concept (CEC). Two experiments explored using expended bioelectrochemical systems (BES) that treated either synthetic dairy wastewater (DWW) or synthetic municipal wastewater (SWW) as soil amendments to improve corn plant growth when treated with three different nutrient treatments: 100%- 50%- and 0% Hoagland Nutrient Solutions. Biochar and used terracotta clay …

Simple Organic Fertilizer Amendments For Farming In Degraded Soils: Effects On Plant-Microbe Interactions, Andrew Adamski

All NMU Master's Theses

The rapid loss of topsoil, biodiversity, and water quality across agricultural land in the United States and the industrialized world poses some of the most important risks to the future of global and domestic food security. Not only is arable land being lost at an unsustainable pace, but the average age of farmers has also steadily been rising due to a myriad of barriers young, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), and beginning farmers face. In an attempt to address these issues, worm castings, bokashi tea, fish hydrolysate, and biochar were applied alone and in combination to an extremely …

Non-Destructive Classification And Quality Evaluation Of Proso Millet Cultivars Using Nir Hyperspectral Imaging With Machine Learning, Laruen E. Doyle, Julia R. Loeb, Nader Ekramirad, Dipak K. Santra, Akinbode A. Adedeji

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Millet is a small-seeded cereal crop with big potential and remarkable characteristics such as high drought resistance, short growing time, low water footprint, and the ability to grow in acidic soil. There is a need to develop nondestructive methods for differentiation and evaluation of the quality attributes of different of proso millet cultivars grown in the U.S. Current methods of cultivar classification are either subjective or destructive, time consuming, not allowing for the whole population to be tested, and requiring trained operators and special equipment. In this study, the feasibility of using near-infrared (NIR) hyperspectral imaging (900-1700 nm) to predict …

Climate Change And Management Impacts On Soybean N Fixation, Soil N Mineralization, N2O Emissions, And Seed Yield, Elvis F. Elli, Ignacio A. Ciampitti, Michael J. Castellano, Larry C. Purcell, Seth Naeve, Patricio Grassini, Nicolas C. La Menza, Luiz Moro Rosso, André F. De Borja Reis, Péter Kovács, Sotirios V. Archontoulis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Limited knowledge about how nitrogen (N) dynamics are affected by climate change, weather variability, and crop management is a major barrier to improving the productivity and environmental performance of soybean-based cropping systems. To fill this knowledge gap, we created a systems understanding of agroecosystem N dynamics and quantified the impact of controllable (management) and uncontrollable (weather, climate) factors on N fluxes and soybean yields. We performed a simulation experiment across 10 soybean production environments in the United States using the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM) model and future climate projections from five global circulation models. Climate change (2020–2080) increased N …

Microbiome Variation Across Populations Of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum Qatarensis, Abdul Latif Khan, Lucas Dantas Lopes, Saqib Bilal, Sajjad Asaf, Kerri M. Crawford, Venkatesh Balan, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients …

Microbiome Variation Across Populations Of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum Qatarensis, Abdul Latif Khan, Lucas Dantas Lopes, Saqib Bilal, Sajjad Asaf, Kerri M. Crawford, Venkatesh Balan, Ahmed Al-Rawahi, Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Microbial symbionts play a significant role in plant health and stress tolerance. However, few studies exist that address rare species of core-microbiome function during abiotic stress. In the current study, we compared the microbiome composition of succulent dwarf shrub halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis Hadidi across desert populations. The results showed that rhizospheric and endosphere microbiome greatly varied due to soil texture (sandy and gravel). No specific bacterial amplicon sequence variants were observed in the core-microbiome of bulk soil and rhizosphere, however, bacterial genus Alcaligenes and fungal genus Acidea were abundantly distributed across root and shoot endospheres. We also analyzed major nutrients …

Soil Hydro-Physical Properties, Computed Tomography Measured Pore Parameters, And Soil Health Indicators As Influenced By Tillage And Crop Rotation Systems, Goutham Thotakuri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Long-term tillage and crop rotation systems are important agricultural management practices as these can have direct impact on the soil’s key properties. The objectives of this study were to (ⅰ) quantify the soil pore characteristics under long-term tillage and crop rotation using X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and to assess the relationships between XCT-measured pore parameters and soil hydro-physical properties; and (ⅱ) evaluate the impacts of long-term tillage and crop rotation on select soil health indicators. The objective (ⅰ) was carried out at Haskell Agricultural Laboratory (HAL), Concord, NE; and objective (ⅰi) was carried out at South Central Agricultural Laboratory (SCAL), …

Biochar: Properties And Potential Benefits For Agricultural Soil In Rwanda, Andromede Uwase

Honors Theses

Physical and chemical soil degradation is becoming a major challenge for agricultural productivity in Rwanda, which is the most important part of the country’s economy. The wide spreading soil degradation in Rwanda is mainly a result of naturally poor soils coupled with unsustainable soil management leading to, for example, accelerated soil erosion, acidification, nutrient loss, compaction, and to decreasing yields. Biochar, as an end product of pyrolysis of biomass in the absence of oxygen, has been proposed as a soil amendment in remediation strategies because of its positive effects on soil productivity relevant parameters such as soil pH, structure, nutrient …

Impact Of Cover Crop Monocultures And Mixtures On Organic Carbon Contents Of Soil Aggregates, Daphne Topps, Imam Ul Khabir, Hagir Abdelmagid, Todd Jackson, Javed Iqbal, Boakai K. Robertson, Zahida Hassan Pervaiz, Muhammad Saleem

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Cover crops are considered an integral component of agroecosystems because of their positive impacts on biotic and abiotic indicators of soil health. At present, we know little about the impact of cover crop types and diversity on the organic carbon (OC) contents of different soil aggregate-size classes. In this study, we investigated the effect of cover plant diversity on OC contents of different soil aggregates, such as macro- (<2000–500 µm), meso- (<500–250 µm), and micro-aggregates (<250 µm). Our experiment included a total of 12 experimental treatments in triplicate; six different monoculture treatments such as chickling vetch (Vicia villosa), crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum), hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), field peas (Pisum sativum), oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus), and mighty mustard (Brassica juncea), and their three- and six-species mixture treatments, including one unplanted control treatment. We performed this experiment usingdeep pots that contained soil collected from a corn-soybean rotation field. At vegetative maturity of cover plants (about 70 days), we took soil samples, and the soil aggregate-size classes were separated by the dry sieving. We hypothesized that cover crop type and diversity will improve OC contents of different soil aggregate-size classes. We found that cover plant species richness weakly positively increased OC contents of soil macro-aggregates (p = 0.056), whereas other aggregate-size classes did not respond to cover crop diversity gradient. Similarly, the OC contents of macroaggregates varied significantly (p = 0.013) under cover crop treatments, though neither monoculture nor mixture treatments showed significantly higher OC contents than the control treatment in this short-term experiment. Interestingly, the inclusion of hairy vetch and oilseed radish increased and decreased the OC contents of macro- and micro-aggregates, respectively. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between shoot biomass and OC contents of macroaggregates. Overall, our results suggest that species-rich rather than -poor communities may improve OC contents of soil macroaggregates, which constitute a major portion of soil systems, and are also considered as important indicators of soil functions.

Veganic Agriculture In The United States: Opportunities For Research, Outreach, And Education, Alisha Utter, Mona Seymour

The Journal of Extension

A growing number of farmers are excluding animal inputs from crop production, an approach commonly referred to as veganic or stockfree organic agriculture. This research-based article discusses the soil health and fertility strategies reported by a sample of U.S. veganic farmers. These approaches may be relevant beyond the veganic community to farmers seeking innovative methods for produce safety and nutrient cycling. Agricultural outreach professionals (AOPs), including Extension personnel, play a critical role in supporting veganic practices by serving as cross-pollinators between farmers and research institutions. Thus, the article endeavors to expand AOP familiarity with veganic practices and benefits.

Effects Of Compost On Soil Health And Greenhouse Gas Emissions: A Case Study In A Mediterranean Vineyard, Tsz Fai Wong

Master's Theses

Compost is commonly used as an organic amendment in cropping systems such as vineyards, and has been shown to be beneficial to carbon (C) sequestration and soil health. As perennial crops, grapevines have a larger potential for C sequestration than most crops. Yet, there is a lack of understanding regarding the relationship between compost application rate, the magnitude of C sequestration, and its environmental tradeoff in the form of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In the study, we investigated the effects of compost application rate on soil C sequestration, GHG emissions, crop growth, and overall soil health after two annual compost …

Economic Feasibility Of Sub-Surfaced Poultry Litter, James Timothy Stults

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Livestock producers routinely spread fertilizer or broadcast poultry litter to improve forage production. With poultry litter widely available across the Southeastern United States and a cheaper source of plant nutrition than fertilizer when proximal to application sites, the novel application of litter below the soil surface, while costly, allows for greater nutrient retention than broadcasting. Since quantifying costs and benefits of sub-surface litter application (SSLA) is complex, we develop and present a spreadsheet tool for automated comparison between SSLA, fertilizer, and broadcasted litter for user-specific scenarios involving equipment choices (new, used, custom), desired nutrient needs for crops grown, litter nutrient …

Taxonomic Microbiome Profiling And Abundance Patterns In The Cacao (Theobroma Cacao L.) Rhizosphere Treated With Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi And Bamboo Biochar, Angelbert D. Cortes, Nelly S. Aggangan, Rina B. Opulencia

The Philippine Agricultural Scientist

Biochar and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are agricultural interventions adopted by farmers to improve the growth of crops in nutrient-deficient acidic soil, which relatively influence the biological properties in the rhizosphere. This greenhouse study investigated the changes in prokaryotic diversity in the rhizosphere of cacao plants grown in acidic soil with AMF and bamboo biochar (BB) for 15 months under nursery conditions. Metagenomic analysis of the V3-V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene of the rhizosphere with AMF, 15% BB, and AMF + 15% BB revealed that the addition of AMF and BB reduced the sample's diversity, but the treatments …

Allelopathy Research In Global Perspective: A Scientometric Study Of Academic Productivity Over A Period Of 25 Years (1995 - 2019), Abdurahiman Pattukuthu, Abdul Jaleel Pottachola, Mohamed Idhris

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This research is concerned with the Allelopathy research literature published from 1995 to 2019 obtained from SCOPUS and studied to identify the trends in research publication in terms of various document types, annual growth, the share of publication, citation growth, average citation per paper, most productive country, authors, journals, highly cited articles during this period. These factors were identified and compared for their research impact over a period of 25 years.

Efecto De La Adición De Biochar Como Enmienda De Un Suelo Degradado, Sobre Microorganismos Relacionados Con El Ciclo Del Carbono, Johan Alejandro Burbano Chinchajoy

Biología

Actualmente, la fuerte demanda agrícola y las malas prácticas han alterado el equilibrio natural del suelo, así como las interacciones físicas, químicas y biológicas, ocasionando su degradación del suelo; por tanto, los índices de calidad del suelo son considerados como herramientas para evaluar el estado de este sustrato en condiciones naturales o el utilizado para la producción agrícola.

Una de las prácticas utilizadas para mitigar su degradación es el uso de enmiendas orgánicas, como el biochar, a nivel mundial se ha evaluado su adición como medio para mejorar la fertilidad del suelo y mitigar el cambio climático, además, sus efectos …

Does Biochar Improve All Soil Ecosystem Services?, Humberto Blanco-Canqui

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Biochar is considered to sequester C and deliver other soil ecosystem services, but an overview that synthesizes the current knowledge of biochar implications on all essential soil ecosystem services is difficult to find in the ample biochar literature. Most previous research and review articles on this topic focused on a single ecosystem service and did not integrate all essential soil ecosystem services. This overview paper (1) synthesizes the impacts of biochar on water and wind erosion, C sequestration, soil water, nutrient leaching, soil fertility, crop yields, and other soil ecosystem services based on published literature and (2) highlights remaining research …

Coal Char Effects On Soil Chemical Properties And Maize Yields In Semi-Arid Region, Dinesh Panday, Maysoon M. Mikha, Xiaocun Sun, Bijesh Maharjan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Soil amendments with high carbon (C) content can be effective in semi-arid regions where soils are characterized by low C. A field study was conducted in 2016–2018 to evaluate the effect of char on soil chemical properties and irrigated maize (Zea mays L.) yields in sandy loam fertilized with urea or composted manure. Carbon-rich char used was a product of coal combustion residue from a local factory in western Nebraska. The experiment was arranged in a split-plot randomized complete block design in four replications with char (0, 6.7, 13.4, 20.1, and 26.8Mg C ha⁻¹) as main and …

Responses Of Soil Surface Greenhouse Gas Emissions To Nitrogen And Sulfur Fertilizer Rates To Brassica Carinata Grown As A Bio-Jet Fuel, Dwarika Bhattarai, Gandura O. Abagandura, Thandiwe Nleya, Sandeep Kumar

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Carinata (Brassica carinata A. Braun), a non-food oilseed crop and an alternative bio-jet fuel feedstock, has received attention for its potential as a low-input option for production in the semi-arid region of the Northern Great Plains of the United States. Research addressing the impacts of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) fertilizers on soils and greenhouse gas (GHG; CO2, N2O, and CH4) emissions from carinata production are limited. Thus, objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of different rates of N and S fertilizers applied to carinata on soil properties and GHG emissions. Field experiments were conducted in 2017 …

Potential Amendments For Improving Productivity Of Low Carbon Semiarid Soil, Bijesh Maharjan, Dinesh Panday, Humberto Blanco-Canqui, Maysoon M. Mikha

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Applying soil amendments with high C content can potentially improve soil properties and increase crop yields. The objective of this 3-yr field study was to evaluate the effects of organic amendments on soil organic C (SOC), chemical properties, crop nutrient uptake, and crop yields in a low C sandy loam soil near Scottsbluff, NE. The field was planted to dry bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in 2017, maize (Zea mays L.) in 2018, and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) in 2019. Char at 22.3, 44.6, 66.9, 89.2, and 133.8 Mg ha^–1; biochar at 5.6 and 11.2 …

Comparative Effects Of Different Types Of Biochar On Physical Properties Of Soil And Growth Of Maize, Muhammad Iqbal, Muhammad Yasir, Atif Javed, Sarmad Tausif Ahmad

Journal of Bioresource Management

The current pot trial was conducted to estimate the impacts of different types of biochar on the growth and nutrients availability of maize (Zea mays) and their effects on the properties of soil. Treatments including four different feedstock based biochar i.e wheat straw, rice husk, corn cob and wood bark were applied to the soil in 10 kg pots @ 1.5% w/w. The experiment was carried out using complete randomized design (CRD). The crop was harvested after the plants have completed their vegetative growth. Physiological parameters of the crop (plant height, leaf area, chlorophyll content) were measured before …

Coal Char Affects Soil Ph To Reduce Ammonia Volatilization From Sandy Loam Soil, Dinesh Panday, Maysoon M. Mikha, Bijesh Maharjan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Ammonia (NH₃) volatilization loss adversely affects N availability in soil-plant systems, reduces crop yield, and negatively impacts environment. Char (coal combustion residue), which contains up to 293 g kg⁻¹ total C by weight, has been shown to reduce NH₃ volatilization due to its considerably high surface area and cation exchange capacity. The NH₃ loss can be greatly affected by a shift in soil pH or urea hydrolysis. A 21-d laboratory study was conducted to evaluate the effects of char on soil pH, N transformations, and subsequent NH₃ volatilization in sandy loam soil. Two …

Effects Of Char On Nitrogen Management In Agricultural Soils Of Semi-Arid Western Nebraska, Dinesh Panday

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Soils in western Nebraska are characterized by low soil organic C due to semi-arid environment in the region and further aggravated by disruption of soil aggregates and rapid C decomposition from intensive tillage, erosion, and frequent droughts. Proper management of soil C may improve soil properties, reduce N losses, and subsequently improve crop yields in this low C soil and low moisture condition. This dissertation focuses on C-rich coal char (henceforth “char”) as a potential strategy to overcome the existing problem of low C in semi-arid region. Char is an industrial by-product, resulting from inefficient coal burning during sugar beet …