Biochar with Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers Improves Defenses, Nitrogen Use Efficiency, and Yield of Maize Plants Subjected to Water Deficit in an Alkaline Soil

Norhan M. M. El-Syed, Ayman M. Helmy, Sara E. E. Fouda, Mohamed M. Nabil, Tamer A. Abdullah, Sadeq K. Alhag, Laila A. Al-Shuraym, Khalid M. Al Syaad, Anam Ayyoub, Mohsin Mahmood () and Ahmed S. Elrys
Additional contact information
Norhan M. M. El-Syed: Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Ayman M. Helmy: Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Sara E. E. Fouda: Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Mohamed M. Nabil: Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt
Tamer A. Abdullah: Research in Field Crops Department, Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Giza 12619, Egypt
Sadeq K. Alhag: Biology Department, College of Science and Arts, King Khalid University, Muhayl Asser 61913, Saudi Arabia
Laila A. Al-Shuraym: Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh 11564, Saudi Arabia
Khalid M. Al Syaad: Biology Department, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, P.O. Box 9004, Abha 61413, Saudi Arabia
Anam Ayyoub: College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, Xianyang 712100, China
Mohsin Mahmood: Center for Eco-Environment Restoration Engineering of Hainan Province, College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou 570228, China
Ahmed S. Elrys: Soil Science Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: Nutrient management practices, such as optimum fertilizer addition rate and co-addition of inorganic fertilizers and organic amendments (compost and biochar), were investigated to enhance crop production and nitrogen (N) use efficiency. However, how these practices improve the defense system, N use efficiency, yield quantity and quality, and physio-biochemical constituents of maize ( Zea mays L.) plants grown on an alkaline soil under different irrigation levels (well-watered conditions, mild drought, and severe drought) remains unclear. A two-year field trial was carried out in a split–split plot with a randomized complete block design with three irrigation levels (100% evapotranspiration (ET), 80% ET, and 60% ET) as the main plots, two amendments (5 Mg ha –1 biochar or compost) as subplots, and three regimes of inorganic fertilization (119-16-69, 179-24-99, and 238-31-138 kg N-phosphorus (P)-potassium (K) ha −1 ) as sub-subplots. We found that maize yield, oil, starch, protein, carbohydrates, and NPK uptake significantly decreased with increasing drought levels, but catalase, peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and proline contents significantly increased. The addition of organic amendments (compost or biochar) with inorganic fertilizers was more effective in enhancing the above attributes than inorganic fertilizers alone, but these attributes were positively related to inorganic fertilizer rates. The treatment of compost or biochar plus 238-31-138 kg N-P-K ha −1 was the best treatment. The agronomic efficiency of applied fertilizer N (NAE) significantly decreased with increasing drought levels by 28.4–34.7%. The addition of biochar with inorganic fertilizers significantly enhanced NAE by 11.6% compared to inorganic fertilizers alone. Comparing the effect of inorganic fertilizer rates across all irrigation levels, the treatment of 119-16-69 kg N-P-K ha −1 gave the highest NAE. Thus, the addition of optimum NPK fertilizer rate with biochar or compost is suitable to enhance the yield quantity and quality of maize plants grown on alkaline soils by improving its defensive system and N use efficiency, especially under the expected increase in aridity response to climate change.

Keywords: balanced fertilization; biochar; compost; drought stress; nitrogen use efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (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/2071-1050/15/16/12223/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/16/12223/ (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:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:16:p:12223-:d:1214411

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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