Miscanthus-Derived Biochar Enhanced Soil Fertility and Soybean Growth in Upland Soil

Da-Hee An (), Dong-Chil Chang, Kwang-Soo Kim, Ji-Eun Lee, Young-Lok Cha, Jae-Hee Jeong, Ji-Bong Choi and Soo-Yeon Kim
Additional contact information
Da-Hee An: Bioenergy Crop Research Institute, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Muan 58545, Republic of Korea
Dong-Chil Chang: Planning & Coordination Division, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea
Kwang-Soo Kim: Bioenergy Crop Research Institute, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Muan 58545, Republic of Korea
Ji-Eun Lee: Planning & Coordination Division, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea
Young-Lok Cha: Bioenergy Crop Research Institute, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Muan 58545, Republic of Korea
Jae-Hee Jeong: Bioenergy Crop Research Institute, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Muan 58545, Republic of Korea
Ji-Bong Choi: Bioenergy Crop Research Institute, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Muan 58545, Republic of Korea
Soo-Yeon Kim: Bioenergy Crop Research Institute, National Institute of Crop Science, Rural Development Administration, Muan 58545, Republic of Korea

Agriculture, 2023, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: As biochar improves soil fertility and crop productivity, there is a growing interest in it as a resource for sustainable agriculture. Miscanthus sacchariflorus has promising applications in various industries because it has a large amount of biomass. However, research on the agricultural utilization of Miscanthus-derived biochar is insufficient. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the effects of Miscanthus biochar on the soil environment and soybean growth. First, Miscanthus biochar was amended at different levels (3 or 10 tons/ha) in upland soil, after which the soil properties, root development, and yield of soybeans were compared with the control (without biochar). In the soil amended with 10 tons/ha of biochar (BC10), organic matter (OM) and available phosphate increased 1.6 and 2.0 times, respectively, compared with that in the control soil (CON). In addition, the soil dehydrogenase activity increased by 70% in BC10, and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that the structure of the microbial community changed after amendment with biochar. The bacterial phyla that differed between CON and BC10 were Acidobacteria and Chloroflexi, which are known to be involved in carbon cycling. Owing to these changes in soil properties, the root dry weight and number of nodules in soybeans increased by 23% and 27%, respectively, and the seed yield increased 1.5-fold in BC10. In conclusion, Miscanthus biochar increased the fertility of soybean-growing soil and consequently increased seed yield. This study is valuable for the practical application of biochar for sustainable agriculture.

Keywords: bacterial community; biochar; Miscanthus; soil environment; soybean (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/9/1738/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/9/1738/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:13:y:2023:i:9:p:1738-:d:1231279

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().