Sunflower Husk Biochar as a Key Agrotechnical Factor Enhancing Sustainable Soybean Production

Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra, Urszula Sadowska, Maciej Kuboń, Maciej Gliniak and Jakub Sikora
Additional contact information
Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra: Institute of Plant Production, Faculty of Agriculture and Economy, Al. Mickiewicza 21, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
Urszula Sadowska: The Institute of Machinery Exploitation, Ergonomics and Production Processes, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Balicka 116B, 30-149 Krakow, Poland
Maciej Kuboń: Department of Production Engineering, Logistics and Applied Computer Science, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Balicka 116B, 30-149 Krakow, Poland
Maciej Gliniak: Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Power Engineering and Automation, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Balicka 116B, 30-149 Krakow, Poland
Jakub Sikora: Department of Bioprocess Engineering, Power Engineering and Automation, University of Agriculture in Krakow, Balicka 116B, 30-149 Krakow, Poland

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: Climate change has a decisive impact on the physical parameters of soil. To counteract this phenomenon, the ongoing search for more effective agri-technical solutions aims at the improvement of the physical properties of soil over a short time. The study aimed to assess the effect of biochar produced from sunflower husks on soil respiration (SR), soil water flux (SWF), and soil temperature (ST), depending on its dose and different soil cover (with and without vegetation). Moreover, the seed yield was assessed depending on the biochar fertilization. Field experiments were conducted on Calcaric/Dolomitic Leptosols (Ochric soil). SR, ST, and SWT were evaluated seven times in three-week intervals during two seasons, over 2018 and 2019. It was found that the time of biochar application had a significant effect on the evaluated parameters. In the second year, the authors observed significantly ( p < 0.005) higher soil respiration (4.38 µmol s ?1 m ?2 ), soil temperature (21.2 °C), and the level of water net transfer in the soil (0.38 m mol s ?1 m ?2 ), compared to the first year. The most effective biochar dose regarding SR and soybean yield was 60 t ha ?1 . These are promising results, but a more comprehensive cost-benefit analysis is needed to recommend large-scale biochar use at this dose.

Keywords: biochar; sunflower husk; soil respiration; 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: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/4/305/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/11/4/305/ (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:4:p:305-:d:528526

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 ().