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Article

Role of Nutrient-Enriched Biochar as a Soil Amendment during Maize Growth: Exploring Practical Alternatives to Recycle Agricultural Residuals and to Reduce Chemical Fertilizer Demand

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Key Laboratory of Clean Utilization Technology for Renewable Energy in Ministry of Agriculture, College of Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China
2
School of Forestry, Environment and Geographical Sciences, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda P.O. Box 7062 Kampala, Uganda
3
Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu 610041, China
4
Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies, Aarhus University, 8000C Aarhus, Denmark
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(11), 3211; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113211
Received: 4 May 2019 / Revised: 29 May 2019 / Accepted: 31 May 2019 / Published: 10 June 2019
(This article belongs to the Collection Organic Waste Management)
Recycling and value-added utilization of agricultural residues through combining technologies such as anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis could double the recoverable energy, close the nutrient recycle loop, and ensure cleaner agricultural production. This study assessed the beneficial application of biochar to soil to recycle digestate nutrients, improve soil quality, and reduce conventional chemical fertilizer. The addition of digestate-enriched biochar improved soil quality as it provided higher soil organic matter (232%–514%) and macronutrients (110%–230%) as opposed to the unenriched biochar and control treatments. Maize grown in soil amended with digestate-enriched biochar showed a significantly higher biomass yield compared to the control and non-enriched biochar treatments but was slightly lower than yields from chemical fertilizer treatments. The slightly lower yield (20%–25%) achieved from digestate-enriched biochar was attributed to slower mineralization and release of the adsorbed nutrients in the short term. However, digestate-enriched biochar could in the long term become more beneficial in sustaining soil fertility through maintaining high soil organic matter and the gradual release of micronutrients compared to conventional chemical fertilizer. Positive effects on soil micronutrients, macronutrients, organic matter, and biomass yield indicates that enriched biochar could partly replace chemical fertilizers and promote organic farming in a circular economy concept. View Full-Text
Keywords: agricultural residues; anaerobic digestate; nutrient recycle; agroecosystems; corn fertilization agricultural residues; anaerobic digestate; nutrient recycle; agroecosystems; corn fertilization
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MDPI and ACS Style

Kizito, S.; Luo, H.; Lu, J.; Bah, H.; Dong, R.; Wu, S. Role of Nutrient-Enriched Biochar as a Soil Amendment during Maize Growth: Exploring Practical Alternatives to Recycle Agricultural Residuals and to Reduce Chemical Fertilizer Demand. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3211. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113211

AMA Style

Kizito S, Luo H, Lu J, Bah H, Dong R, Wu S. Role of Nutrient-Enriched Biochar as a Soil Amendment during Maize Growth: Exploring Practical Alternatives to Recycle Agricultural Residuals and to Reduce Chemical Fertilizer Demand. Sustainability. 2019; 11(11):3211. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113211

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kizito, Simon, Hongzhen Luo, Jiaxin Lu, Hamidou Bah, Renjie Dong, and Shubiao Wu. 2019. "Role of Nutrient-Enriched Biochar as a Soil Amendment during Maize Growth: Exploring Practical Alternatives to Recycle Agricultural Residuals and to Reduce Chemical Fertilizer Demand" Sustainability 11, no. 11: 3211. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11113211

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