Effect of Biochar and Moisture Regimes on the Physiology and Yield of Maize

Zarghoona Naz; Summera Jahan

Effect of Biochar and Moisture Regimes on the Physiology and Yield of Maize

Authors

Zarghoona Naz PhD, Department of Botany, University of Gujrat, Gujrat, Pakistan
Summera Jahan Institute of Botany, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

Keywords:

Biochar, Soil, Hybrid, Chlorophyll, Klin

Abstract

In the face of declining water resources and increasing need for water requirements for agricultural purposes under changing climatic conditions. Nowadays the world is an overlay with a lot of problems for crop production among them drought is the most harmful. The three maize hybrids (Dk-2088, Yh-5427, and Dk-6317) were sown on 16 February 2023 to explore the suitable level of biochar under different moisture regimes (100% ETC, 80%ETC, 60% ETC,) level of biochar was applied at the rate of 0 tons/ha (no Biochar), 5 tons per hectare, and 10 tons per hectare (The experiment was conducted in a split-plot design according to RCBD). The present study was conducted in the village Hardas Pur district (Gujrat) at locations 32°38.37’N, and 74°9.00’E to identify the appropriate level of biochar under three moisture regimes (100%, 80% and 60%). The research focuses on adding activated biochar to the soil applied at the rate of 5 tons ha−1, 10 tons ha−1, and 0 tons ha−1 under three water deficit conditions FI, Full irrigation treatments, OI optimum irrigation, 80%, and DI deficit irrigation 60%. Biochar treatment under optimum irrigation gave better growth and yield than deficit irrigation. The application of biochar significantly mitigated the reduction in thousand-seed weight and seed weight per cob under water deficit conditions, improving these traits by 8.02-28% compared to non-amended soil. The highest values were observed in DK-6317 under full irrigation, with marked improvements across hybrids and irrigation levels. This research highlights biochar's effectiveness in enhancing maize growth, yield, and physiological traits under full, optimum, and deficit irrigation regimes. Amending soil with 10 tons per hectare of biochar significantly improved soil health and agricultural productivity, showcasing its potential as a sustainable soil amendment.

References

Abd El-Mageed, T. A., Belal, E. E., Rady, M. O., Abd El-Mageed, S. A., Mansour, E., Awad, M. F., & Semida, W. M. (2021). Acidified biochar as a soil amendment to drought-stressed (Vicia faba L.) plants: Influences on growth and productivity, nutrient status, and water use efficiency. Agronomy, 11(7), 129

Ali, M. A., Ajaz, M. M., Rizwan, M., Qayyum, M. F., Arshad, M., Hussain, S., ... & Qureshi, M. A. (2020). Effect of biochar and phosphate solubilizing bacteria on growth and phosphorus uptake by maize in an Aridisol. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 13, 1-9.

Arnon, D. I. (1949). Copper enzymes in isolated chloroplasts. Polyphenoloxidase in Beta vulgaris. Plant Physiology, 24(1), 1

Benešová, M., Hola, D., Fischer, L., Jedelský, P. L., Hnilička, F., Wilhelmová, N.& Hniličková, H. 2012. The physiology and proteomics of drought tolerance in maize: early stomatal closure as a cause of lower tolerance to short-term dehydration PLoS One, 7(6), e38017.

Bruulsema, T. (2018). Managing nutrients to mitigate soil pollution. Environmental pollution, 243, 1602-1605.

Clough, T. J., Condron, L. M., Kammann, C., & Müller, C. (2013). A review of biochar and soil nitrogen dynamics. Agronomy, 3(2), 275-293.

Dai, Z. et al. Association of biochar properties with changes in soil bacterial, fungal and fauna communities and nutrient cycling processes. Biochar. 3, 239–254 (2021).

Dietzel, R., Liebman, M., Ewing, R., Helmers, M., Horton, R., Jarchow, M., et al. (2016). How efficiently do corn- and soybean-based cropping systems use water? A systems modelling analysis. Global Change Biol. 22, 666–81. doi: 10.1111/gcb.13101

Geza, W., Ngidi, M., Ojo, T., Adetoro, A. A., Slotow, R., & Mabhaudhi, T. (2021). Youth participation in agriculture: A scoping review. Sustainability, 13(16), 9120.

Gomiero, T., Pimentel, D., & Paoletti, M. G. (2011). Environmental impact of different agricultural management practices: conventional vs. organic agriculture. Critical reviews in plant sciences, 30(1-2), 95-124.

Haider, G., Koyro, H.-W., Azam, F., Steffens, D., Müller, C., & Kammann, C. (2015). Biochar but not humic acid product amendment affected maize yields by improving plant-soil moisture relations. Plant and soil, 395, 141-157

Han, L. et al. Biochar’s stability and effect on the content, composition and turnover of soil organic carbon. Geoderma. 364, 114184 (2020).

Ippolito, J. A., Cui, L., Kammann, C., Wrage-Mönnig, N., Estavillo, J. M., Fuertes-Mendizabal, T., ... & Borchard, N. (2020). Feedstock choice, pyrolysis temperature and type influence biochar characteristics: a comprehensive meta-data analysis review. Biochar, 2, 421-438.

Jahan, S., Iqbal, S., Rasul, F. & Jabeen, K. Efficacy of biochar as soil amendments for soybean (Glycine max L.) morphology, physiology, and yield regulation under drought. Arab. J. Geosci. 13, 1–20 (2020).

Joseph S, Pow D, Dawson K, Rust J, Munroe P, Taherymoosavi S, Mitchell DRG, Robb S, Solaiman ZM. 2020. Biochar increases soil organic carbon, avocado yields and economic return over 4 years of cultivation. Science of the Total Environment 724:138153

Kammann, C. I., Linsel, S., Gößling, J. W., & Koyro, H. W. (2011). Influence of biochar on drought tolerance of Chenopodium quinoa Willd and soil-plant relations. Plant and soil, 345, 195-210.

Kang, M. W. et al. Enhancement of soil physical properties and soil water retention with biochar-based soil amendments. Sci. Total Environ. 836, 155746 (2022)

Laghari, M., Mirjat, M. S., Hu, Z., Fazal, S., Xiao, B., Hu, M., ... & Guo, D. (2015). Effects of biochar application rate on sandy desert soil properties and sorghum growth. Catena, 135, 313-320.

Lin, L., Qiu, W., Wang, D., Huang, Q., Song, Z., & Chau, H. W. (2017). Arsenic removal in aqueous solution by a novel Fe-Mn modified biochar composite: characterization and mechanism. Ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 144, 514-521.

Liu, J., Guo, Y.Y., Bai, Y.W., Camberato, J.J., Xue, J.Q., Zhang, R.H., 2018. Effects of Drought Stress on the Photosynthesis in Maize 1. 65 (6), Pp. 849–856.

Liu, S. et al. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of contrasting hybrid cultivars reveals key drought-responsive genes and metabolic pathways regulating drought stress tolerance in maize at various stages. PLoS ONE 15(10), e0240468 (2020).

Moustakas, M., Sperdouli, I., & Moustaka, J. 2022. Early drought stress warning in plants: Color pictures of photosystem II photochemistry. Climate, 10(11), 179.

Munyasya, A. N., Koskei, K., Zhou, R., Liu, S. T., Indoshi, S. N., Wang, W., et al. (2022). Integrated on-site & off-site rainwater-harvesting system boosts rainfed maize production for better adaptation to climate change. Agric. Water Manage. 269, 107672. doi: 10.1016/j.agwat.2022.107672

Obia, A., Cornelissen, G., Martinsen, V., Smebye, A. B., Mulder, J. (2020). Conservation tillage and biochar improve soil water content and moderate soil temperature in tropical acrisol. Soil Tillage Res. 197, 104521. doi: 10.1016/j.still.2019.104521

Premachandra, G. S., Saneoka, H. & Ogata, S. Cell membrane stability, an indicator of drought tolerance, as affected by applied nitrogen in soybean. J. Agric. Sci. 115, 63–66 (1990)

Premachandra, G. S., Saneoka, H. & Ogata, S. Cell membrane stability, an indicator of drought tolerance, as affected by applied nitrogen in soybean. J. Agric. Sci. 115, 63–66 (1990).

Premalatha RP, Poorna Bindu J, Nivetha E, Malarvizhi P, Manorama K, Parameswari E, Davamani V. 2023. A review of biochar’s effect on soil properties and crop growth. Frontiers in Energy Research 11:1092637

Qi L, Pokharel P, Chang SX, Zhou P, Niu H, He X, Wang Z, Gao M. 2020. Biochar application increased methane emission, soil carbon storage and net ecosystem carbon budget in a 2-year vegetable-—rice rotation. Agriculture, Ecosystem and Environment 292:106831

Rayment, G. E. & Higginson, F. R. Australian Laboratory Handbook of Soil and Water Chemical Methods. (1992).

Sajjad, M. M., Wang, J., Abbas, H., Ullah, I., Khan, R., & Ali, F. (2022). Impact of climate and land-use change on groundwater resources, study of Faisalabad district, Pakistan. Atmosphere, 13(7), 1097.

Sampathkumar, T., Pandian, B., Rangaswamy, M., Manickasundaram, P., & Jeyakumar, P. (2013). Influence of deficit irrigation on growth, yield and yield parameters of the cotton–maize cropping sequence. Agricultural water management, 130, 90-102.

Shakeel, H., Jahan, S., Rafiq, K., Iqbal, S., & Rasul, F. (2022). Efficacy of biochar-supplemented soil for modification of physio-biochemical attributes of Canola (Brassica napus L.) genotypes under different moisture regimes. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 22(3), 3667-3684.

Shao, R. X., Xin, L. F., Zheng, H. F., Li, L. L., Ran, W. L., Mao, J., & Yang, Q. H., 2016. Changes in chloroplast ultrastructure in leaves of drought-stressed maize inbred lines. Photosynthetica, 54(1), 74-80.

Tan, X. F., Liu, Y. G., Gu, Y. L., Xu, Y., Zeng, G. M., Hu, X. J., ... & Li, J. (2016). Biochar-based nano-composites for the decontamination of wastewater: a review. Bioresource Technology, 212, 318-333.

Tanure, M. M. C. et al. Soil water retention, physiological characteristics, and growth of maize plants in response to biochar application to soil. Soil. Tillage Res. 192, 164–173 (2019).

Yildirim, E., Ekinci, M., & Turan, M. (2021). Impact of biochar in mitigating the negative effect of drought stress on cabbage seedlings. Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition, 21(3), 2297-2309.

Effect of Biochar and Moisture Regimes on the Physiology and Yield of Maize