Indian Journal of Agricultural Research

  • Chief EditorT. Mohapatra

  • Print ISSN 0367-8245

  • Online ISSN 0976-058X

  • NAAS Rating 5.20

  • SJR .258 (2022)

Frequency :
Bi-monthly (February, April, June, August, October and December)
Indexing Services :
BIOSIS Preview, ISI Citation Index, Biological Abstracts, Elsevier (Scopus and Embase), AGRICOLA, Google Scholar, CrossRef, CAB Abstracting Journals, Chemical Abstracts, Indian Science Abstracts, EBSCO Indexing Services, Index Copernicus

Dynamics of C and N in a clay loam soil amended with biochar and corn straw

George O. Odugbenro, Zhihua Liu, Yankun Sun
  • Email
1College of Resources and Environment, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin 150 030, PR China.
Cite article:- Odugbenro O. George, Liu Zhihua, Sun Yankun (2019). Dynamics of C and N in a clay loam soil amended with biochar and corn straw. Indian Journal of Agricultural Research. 53(6): 675-680. doi: 10.18805/IJARe.A-403.
An incubation study was conducted to determine the influence of biochar and corn straw on CO2-C emission, soil organic C, microbial biomass C and N, total N, and mineral N (NH4+-N and NO3--N) in a clay loam soil. Six treatments viz., CK (Control); S (Soil + 1% straw); B1 (Soil + 0.5% biochar); B2 (Soil + 2% biochar); SB1 (Soil + 1% straw + 0.5% biochar); SB2 (Soil + 1% straw + 2% biochar) were tested with three replications. Results showed that straw addition to soil with or without biochar increased CO2-C emission while sole-biochar addition (2%) reduced it. Straw and biochar also increased the soil microbial biomass C and N but greatest increase in microbial biomass N (111.9 µg g-1) was recorded by biochar-straw combination. SOC and total N significantly increased following biochar and straw additions which suggest that organic amendments can improve soil chemical properties. Additionally, for soil mineral N, biochar reduced NH4+-N and NO3--N concentrations while straw increased NH4+-N concentration but greatly reduced  that of NO3--N.
  1. Agegnehu, G., Bass, A.M., Nelson, P.N. and Bird, M.I. (2016). Benefits of biochar, compost and biochar-compost for soil quality, maize yield and greenhouse gas emissions in a tropical agricultural soil. Sci. Total Environ. 543: 295-306.
  2. Atkinson, C.J., Fitzgerald, J.D. and Hipps, N.A. (2010). Potential mechanisms for achieving agricultural benefits from biochar application to temperate soils: a review. Plant Soil. 337 (1–2): 1-18.
  3. Clough, T.J. and Condron, L.M. (2010). Biochar and the nitrogen cycle: introduction. J. Environ Qual. 39: 1218-1223.
  4. Dempster, D.N., Gleeson, D.B., Solaiman, Z.M., Jones, D.L. and Murphy, D.V. (2012). Decreased soil microbial biomass and nitrogen mineralisation with eucalyptus biochar addition to a coarse textured soil. Plant Soil. 354: 311-324.
  5. Fang, Y., Singh, B.P. and Singh, B. (2014). Temperature sensitivity of biochar and native carbon mineralisation in biochar-amended soils. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 191: 158-167.
  6. Gupta, P.K. ( 2006). Soil, Plant, Water and Fertilizer analysis. Agrobios India Publishing. 132-135.
  7. Jefrey, M.N., Busscher, W.J., Laird, D.L., Ahmedna, M., Watts, D.W. and Niandou, M.A.S. (2009). Impact of biochar amendment on fertility of a southeastern coastal plain soil. Soil Sci. 174: 105-112.
  8. Keith, A., Singh, B. and Singh, B.P. (2011). Interactive priming of biochar and labile organic matter mineralization in a smectite-rich soil. Environ. Sci. Technol. 45: 9611-9618.
  9. Kuzyakov, Y., Subbotina, I., Chen, H.Q., Bogomolova, I. and Xu, X.L. (2009). Black carbon decomposition and incorporation into microbial biomass estimated by 14C labeling. Soil Biol. Biochem. 41: 210-219.
  10. Lehmann, J., Gaunt, J. and Rondon, M. (2006). Bio-char Sequestration in Terrestrial Ecosystems - A Review. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change. 11: 403- 427.
  11. Li, X.S., Han, H.F., Ning, T.Y. and Lal, R. (2018). CO2-C evolution rate in an incubation study with straw input to soil managed by different tillage systems. RSC Adv. 8: 12588-12596.
  12. Lou, Y.L., Liang, W.J., Xu, M.G., He, X.H., et al. (2011). Straw coverage alleviates seasonal variability of the topsoil microbial biomass and activity. Catena. 86: 117-120.
  13. Lu, F., Wang, X.K., Han, B., Ouyang, Z.Y., et al. (2009). Soil carbon sequestrations by nitrogen fertilizer application, straw return and no-tillage in China’s cropland. Global Change Biol. 15: 281-305.
  14. Lu, H., Lashari, M.S., Liu, X., et al. (2015). Changes in soil microbial community structure and enzyme activity with amendment of biochar-manure compost and pyroligneous solution in a saline soil from central China. Eur. J. Soil Biol. 70: 67-76.
  15. Mukherjee, A. and Lal, R. (2013). Biochar impacts on soil physical properties and greenhouse gas emissions. Agronomy. 3(2): 313-    339.
  16. Novak, J.M., Busscher, W.J., Watts, D.W., Laird, D.A., Ahmedna, M.A. and Niandou, M.A.S. (2010). Short term CO2 mineralization after addition of biochar and switchgrass to a Typic Kandiudult. Geoderma. 154: 281-288.
  17. Odugbenro, G.O., Sun, Y. and Liu, Z. (2018). Effects of biochar on carbon pool, N mineralization, microbial biomass and microbial respiration from mollisol. Afr. J. Agr. Res. 13 (45): 2570-2578.
  18. Peake, L.R., Reid, G.J. and Tang, X. (2014). Quantifying the influence of biochar on the physical and hydrological properties of dissimilar soils. Geoderma. 235-236: 182-190.
  19. Prayogo, C., Jones, J.E., Baeyens, J. and Bending, G.D. (2014). Impact of biochar on mineralization of C and N from soil and willow litter and its relationship with microbial community biomass and structure. Biol. Fert. Soils. 50: 695-702.
  20. Song, Y., Zhang, X., Ma, B., Chang, S.X. and Gong, J. (2013). Biochar addition affected the dynamics of ammonia oxidizers and nitrification in microcosms of a coastal alkaline soil. Biol. Fert. Soils. 50: 321-332.
  21. Tufekcioglu, A., Raich, J.W., Isenhart, T.M. and Schultz, R.C. (2001). Soil respiration within riparian buffers and adjacent crop fields. Plant Soil. 229: 117-214.
  22. Vance, E.D., Brookes, P.C. and Jenkinson, D.S. (1987). An Extraction Method for Measuring Soil Microbial Biomass C. Soil Biol. Biochem. 19: 703-707. 
  23. Wang, J., Xiong, Z. and Kuzyakov, Y. (2015). Biochar stability in soil: meta-analysis of decomposition and priming effects. GCB Bioenergy 8: 512-523. 
  24. Xu, R.L., Wang, J.F., Zhang, G.L. and Dai, Q.G. (2010). Changes of microbe and organic matter content in paddy soil applied with straw, manure and nitrogen fertilizer (in Chinese). Acta Ecol. Sin, 30: 3584–3590.
  25. Zhang, P., Wei, T., Li, Y., Wang, K., Jia, Z., Han, Q. and Ren, X. (2015). Effects of straw incorporation on the stratification of the soil organic carbon, total N, and C:N ratio in a semiarid region of China. Soil Till. Res., 153: 28-35. 
  26. Zhang, Q-z., Dijkstra, F.A., Liu, X-r., Wang, Y-d., Huang, J., et al. (2014). Effects of Biochar on Soil Microbial Biomass after Four Years of Consecutive Application in the North China Plain. PLoS ONE. 9 (7): e102062.
  27. Zhu, L.X., Xiao, Q., Shen, Y.F. and Li, S.Q. (2017). Effects of biochar and maize straw on the short-term carbon and nitrogen dynamics in a cultivated silty loam in China. Environ Sci. Pollut. Res. 24: 1019-1029. 

Editorial Board

View all (0)