Significance of Pyrolytic Temperature, Particle Size, and Application Rate of Biochar in Improving Hydro-Physical Properties of Calcareous Sandy Soil

Abdulaziz G. Alghamdi, Abdulrasoul Al-Omran, Arafat Alkhasha, Zafer Alasmary and Anwar A. Aly
Additional contact information
Abdulaziz G. Alghamdi: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Abdulrasoul Al-Omran: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Arafat Alkhasha: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Zafer Alasmary: Soil Sciences Department, College of Food and Agricultural Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Anwar A. Aly: Soil and Water Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21545, Egypt

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 12, 1-16

Abstract: Water management and irrigation conservation in calcareous sandy soil are of significant importance for sustaining agricultural production, especially in arid and semi-arid region that facing scarcity of water resources. The changes in hydro-physical characteristics of calcareous sand soil were investigated after date palm waste-derived biochar application in column trials. Significance of pyrolysis temperature (300 °C, 500 °C, and 700 °C), particle size [<0.5 mm (D 0.5 ), 0.5–1 mm (D 1 ), and 1–2 mm (D 2 )], and application rate (1%, 2.5%, and 5%) were studied. Variations in infiltration rate, intermittent evaporation, and saturated hydraulic conductivity as a function of aforementioned factors were investigated. After amending the top 10-cm soil layer with different biochar and application rates, the columns were subjected to six wetting and drying cycles by applying 25 cm 3 tap water per week over a 6-week period. Overall, biochar application resulted in decreased saturated hydraulic conductivity, while improved cumulative evaporation. Specifically, biochar produced at 300 °C and 500 °C demonstrated 10.2% and 13.3% higher cumulative evaporation, respectively., whereas, biochar produced at 700 °C with 5% application rate resulted in decreased cumulative evaporation. Cumulative evaporation increased by 5.0%, 7.7% and, 7.8% for D 0.5 , D 1 and D 2 (mm) on average, respectively, as compared with the untreated soil. Thus, biochar with particle size 0.5–1 mm significantly improved hydro-physical properties when applied at 1%. Generally, using biochar produced at medium temperature and small particle size with appropriate application rates could improve the soil hydro-physical properties.

Keywords: date palm biochar; hydro-physical properties; intermittent evaporation; water retention; hydraulic conductivity; cumulative infiltration (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: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/12/1293/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/12/1293/ (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:11:y:2021:i:12:p:1293-:d:706029

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 ().