Coal Char and Biochar as Soil Amendments: Effect on Soil Properties and Grass Biomass in Degraded Rangeland

Abstract

Semiarid agroecosystems are particularly concerned about soil deterioration brought on by the loss of soil organic carbon. Soil organic carbon has long been recognised to rise with the use of biochar and other organic char products. This study used coal char (CC) and biochar (BC) as soil amendments in unirrigated semiarid rangeland soil and conducted field observations for three years. A local commercial producer provided BC, and CC was created by pyrolysing coal at three distinct temperatures (650, 750, and 800 °C) to create CC650, CC750, and CC800, respectively.

Amendments: CC, BC, and manure were added to the soil at a rate of 10% (v/v). This field experiment results indicated that in comparison to the controls in each of the three years, CC applied with manure (CC650M) improved grass biomass by 95, 42, and 101%, and BC applied with manure (BCM) enhanced grass biomass by 89, 39, and 52% in 2018, 2019, and 2020. The CC and BC treatments resulted in significantly higher soil organic matter (SOM) (1.60–2.93%) than the control (1.37%), according to soil tests conducted a year after char application. However, more thorough research is needed in unirrigated semiarid rangelands to examine the interactions of CC and BC with the soil.