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Diazotrophs can help minimize the use of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers by fixing atmospheric dinitrogen in agricultural ecosystems. However, the diazotroph community affected by biochar application is still poorly explored in the paddy fields. Here, a field study with three different biochar application rates, namely control (CK, no biochar amendment), low (LB, 24 t ha−1 applied once), and high (HB, 48 t ha−1 applied once), was employed in a double rice paddy. The impacts of biochar on diazotrophic abundance/community composition, soil chemical and biological properties, and rice biomass were examined 3‒4 years after application. The abundance and community composition of diazotrophs were measured with quantitative polymerase chain reaction and amplicon sequencing, respectively. Biochar application significantly enhanced the diazotrophic abundance by 13.1–94.2% compared with CK, which might result from increased stubble and root biomass, soil Olsen-P, total P, and total organic C. Compared to HB, LB significantly increased diazotrophic abundance by 5.6–20.8% three years post-addition, which was probably due to the increased stubble and root biomass. The variations in the alpha diversity index in diazotroph community composition from biochar treatments was decreased over time, relative to CK. Diazotrophic community Bradyrhizobium, Geobacter, Azospirillum, and Pseudodesulfovibrio had a significantly higher relative abundance in biochar treatments than in CK, which can endophytically colonize the rice roots or utilize a wide range of organic carbon sources. Our results demonstrate that biochar amendment could be a useful measure to promote soil available N pool in double rice paddies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that rice husk biochar has been shown to modulate salinity in salt-affected acid soils, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of organic amendment of salinized acid soils on P fractions, enzyme activities, and associated rice yield. Four treatments, viz. Rice–Rice–Rice, [RRR]; Fallow–Rice–Rice, [FRR]; Fallow–Rice–Rice + 3 Mg ha−1 of compost [FRR + Comp]; and Fallow–Rice–Rice + 10 Mg ha−1 of biochar [FRR + BC] were established at Ben Tre and Kien Giang sites, Viet Nam, over six consecutive crops. Soil properties at harvest of the sixth crop showed that there were diverse patterns of fractionation between P forms with respect to treatment. Overarchingly, biochar increased labile and moderately labile inorganic P and organic P by 30% to 70%, respectively, whilst compost had a relatively modest effect on these pools. Soil phosphatase activities at crop tillering increased following the FRR + Comp and FRR + BC treatments compared with those in RRR, except for acid phosphatase at Ben Tre. At harvest, there were no significant differences between the enzyme activities among the treatments. Rice yield was positively correlated with the more labile forms of P, soil C, and acid phosphatase activity. In the absence of organic amendments, there was no effect of triple versus double rice crops being grown in one-year cycle. Repeated application of biochar (10 Mg ha−1 × 5 times) showed potential to increase grain yields and total soil C in salt-affected acid soils, via modulation of P transformations to more plant-available forms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the impacts of straw and biochar on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and grain yield in a double rice cropping system under optimal N fertilizer reduction. Conventional fertilization (CF) was used as the control group, and treatments included optimal fertilization and 15% less nitrogen (OF), together with straw (S) or biochar (B) applied under different fertilization conditions, namely CF + S, CF + B, OF + S, and OF + B. The effects of treatments on soil CH4 and N2O emissions were studied, and changes in soil physicochemical properties were analyzed. The results showed that relative to CF, CF + S and OF + S increased the cumulative CH4 emissions by 11.80% and 2.35%, respectively, while CF + B and OF + B resulted in significant reductions in cumulative CH4 emissions by 27.80% and 28.46%, respectively. Biochar was effective in reducing N2O emissions, and OF further increased the potential, with CF + B and OF + B achieving the best N2O reductions of 30.56% and 32.21%, respectively. Although OF reduced yields by 0.16%, this difference was within reasonable limits; the remaining treatments increased grain yields by 2.55% to 3.47%. CF + B and OF + B reduced the global warming potential (GWP) by 27.93% and 28.63%, respectively, and ultimately reduced the greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI) by 30.42% and 30.97%. Both straw and biochar increased the soil organic matter, NH4+-N, and NO3−-N contents, and biochar increased the soil pH, which may be the potential mechanism regulating soil GHG emissions. Overall, OF + B is beneficial for reducing GHG emissions and may be a better agronomic cropping pattern in double season rice growing areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Excessive use of inorganic nitrogen (N) fertilizers is the primary anthropogenic cause of low N use efficiency and environmental damage in wetland rice agriculture. However, little is known about the performance of traditional inorganic N sources used in paddy rice production. Biochar (BC) is considered to be a climate change mitigation tool that can enhance N uptake and utilization in N‐fertilized crops. To test this hypothesis, we performed a pot experiment to study the fate of 15N‐labeled urea, ammonium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate with and without BC at tillering, heading, and maturity stages of rice in the early and late seasons of 2019. Fertilizer N leaching was significantly reduced by 75.69% and 110.32% in BC vs. non‐BC treatments across growth stages in the early and late seasons. The rate of leaching was lower for urea than for ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate. Furthermore, the addition of BC resulted in 55.58% and 41.33% higher soil 15N concentrations in the early and late season, respectively, indicating that BC increased N adsorption. 15N uptake by roots, stems, leaves, panicles, and grains averaged 52.39%, 37.14%, 40.86%, 36.37%, and 29.94% higher in BC‐amended pots than in BC‐free pots in both seasons. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) among N sources in terms of fertilizer N loss, residual N, and N uptake, and performance was ranked in the order urea > ammonium sulfate > ammonium nitrate. Overall, our results indicate that urea with BC is a preferable N source for double rice cropping systems compared with ammonium nitrate and ammonium sulfate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methane and N2O are two important greenhouse gases, which are the main emission in paddy ecology system. China is the highest rice planting country, so the greenhouse gas emission is huge in China. Application of biochar in paddy field can decrease the emissions of greenhouse gases. In this study, we investigated the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, carbon sequestration and economics of different rates of biochar application in a double rice cropping system. The experiment was carried out in rice variety area promotion experiment field in Huizhou of Guangdong from March 2012 to September 2015. Four treatments were designed as CK (famer traditional operation without biochar application), BC1 (biochar amendment at 5 t/hm²), BC2 (biochar amendment at 10 t/hm²), and BC3 (biochar amendment at 20 t/hm²), each treatment has 3 repeat. Biochar used in this study was obtained from wheat straw and produced by Henan Sanli New Energy Company. LCA (life cycle assessment) method was employed to calculate GHG emissions from the collection and transportation of raw materials, the production, transportation, and broadcasting of biochar, and from the avoidance of the straw burning and the soil carbon stocks. Static chamber-GC (gas chromatography) method was used to monitor the CH4 and N2O emissions under different rates of biochar application from 2012 to 2015. Then, the net GHG emissions and the percentage of emission reduction in the paddy field with different biochar amendment rates were calculated. The total GHG emissions from the double rice cropping system were 19.5, 15.6, 16.1, and 12.4 t/hm2 under CK, BC1, BC2, and BC3 treatments respectively in four years. Moreover, the total GHG emission reduction percentage of BC1, BC2 and BC3 were 19.70%, 17.46%, and 36.40%, respectively. Considering the GHG emissions of biochar in all stages of life cycle, the net GHG emissions of CK, BC1, BC2 and BC3 in the four years were 19.5, 20.3, 10.9, and 4.2 t/hm², respectively, the treatment of BC1 increased the net emissions of 4.3% in the four years. BC2 and BC3 reduced the net GHG emissions by 44% and 78.6%, respectively in four years. The economic analysis indicated that the BC1treatment had more economic benefits compared to other treatments. The different biochar amendment rates significantly reduced the GHG emissions from the double rice cropping system, the highest application rate of biochar had the best emission reduction effect. The LCA of biochar application indicated that from medium to high application levels, biochar reduces emissions, for higher application rates of biochar, the effects are stronger. Moreover, the economic analysis indicated that the more amounts of biochar application, the least profitable to gain economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar amendment can reduce CH 4 emissions from paddy soils. However, little is known about how the soil microbial communities associated with paddy soil CH 4 emissions respond to biochar aging after biochar amendment. In this study, we examined the effects of biochar on CH 4 emissions, soil properties, and abundance/community composition of methanogens and methanotrophs in a double rice cropping system from 2012 to 2016. Straw-derived biochar was applied once in 2012 at 24 and 48 t ha−1. Biochar application decreased the annual CH 4 emissions by 20–51%. Biochar increased the abundances of both methanogens and methanotrophs, with a larger increase of methanotrophs than methanogens in the first year, mainly caused by the increases in soil dissolved organic carbon, NH 4 +-N, and porosity. Biochar suppressed the abundance of methanogens and had little effect on the methanotrophs in the following three years, probably due to the increased soil porosity. Eventually, the ratios of abundance of methanogens to methanotrophs decreased by 11–31% in each of the four years and were positively correlated to CH 4 emissions. Biochar addition increased the relative abundances of Methanocella and Methanospirillum and reduced those of Methanoregula and Methanosaeta for methanogens, while it increased the proportion of the basophilic methanotrophs Methylomicrobium and decreased that of Methylocaldum in the growing season 2014. Our results demonstrate that biochar aging greatly alters the responses of abundances and community compositions of soil methanogens and methanotrophs to biochar addition. The reduction of CH 4 emissions owing to biochar in the long run was probably mainly due to the lesser suppression of abundance and activity of methanotrophs compared with methanogens. • Biochar decreased paddy CH 4 emissions across four years. • Biochar significantly reduced methanogen:methanotroph ratios in four years. • Fresh biochar with nutrients stimulated methanotrophs and methanogens in year one. • Aged biochar suppressed methanogen growth in years 2–4 due to increased soil porosity. • Biochar reduced the acetoclastic methanogen abundances at tillering and ripening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor water and nutrient retention are the major soil fertility limitations in the low productivity agricultural soils of Nepal. The addition of biochar to these soils is one way these hindrances can be overcome. In the present study, six different biochar doses (control, 5 t ha −1 , 10 t ha −1 , 15 t ha −1 , 25 t ha −1 and 40 t ha −1 ) were applied to a moderately acidic silty loam soil from Rasuwa, Nepal and the effects on soil physicochemical properties and maize and mustard yield over three years (i.e., six cropping seasons), were investigated. Biochar addition did not show significant effects on maize and mustard grain yield in the first year, however significant positive effects (p   <   0.01) were observed during the second and third years. During the second year, maize grain yield significantly increased by 50%, 47% and 93% and mustard grain yield by 96%, 128% and 134% at 15 t ha −1 , 25 t ha −1 and 40 t ha −1 of biochar respectively. A similar significant increase in yield of both crops was observed in the third year. Yields for both maize and mustard correlated significantly (p   <   0.001 ) with plant available P, K + , pH, total OC%, CEC, base saturation, and increased as a function of biochar addition. On the basis of the measured crop yields for the various biochar doses, a cost-benefit analysis was carried out, and gross margin was calculated to optimize biochar dose for local farming practice. Total costs included financial cost (farm input, labor and biochar production cost), health cost and methane emission cost during biochar production. Health costs were a minor factor (<2% of total biochar preparation cost), whereas methane emission costs were significant (up to 30% of biochar cost, depending on the C price). Total income comprised sale of crops and carbon sequestration credits. The cost-benefit analysis showed that the optimal biochar application dose was 15 t ha −1 for all C price scenarios, increasing gross margin by 21% and 53%, respectively, for 0 and 42 US$ per ton CO 2 price scenarios. In the current situation, only the 0 US$ price scenario is realistic for rural farmers in Nepal, but this still gives benefits of biochar amendment, which are capped at a 15 t ha −1 biochar addition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Straw biochar increased the abundances of paddy soil bacteria and fungi 3–4 years after amendment. • Biochar amendment decreased soil bacteria/fungi ratios. • Biochar improved soil bacterial composition to favor TOC accumulation. • Biochar improved soil fungal composition to favor plant growth and TOC degradation. • Biochar reduced fungal abundances of plant pathogen in paddy soil. The effects of biochar application on soil microbial communities and functional characteristics and their correlations with soil fertility properties were explored in a double rice cropping system three to four years after a single biochar amendment. Three treatments including a control, a low (24 t ha−1), and a high (48 t ha−1) application rate of straw-derived biochar were constructed. Biochar amendment significantly increased the abundance of bacteria and fungi by up to 102 % and 178 %, respectively, which might be probably caused by the increases in soil total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen, and rice biomass as compared with the control. However, the abundance of archaea was only slightly elevated after biochar amendments. Bacteria/fungi ratios were significantly decreased by up to 61.4 % in the biochar treatments, probably because fungi were the dominant decomposers of increased recalcitrant carbon from biochar and rice biomass. Biochar stimulated the relative abundance of Acidobacteria, which favours soil organic carbon accumulation. Biochar increased the relative abundances of Mortierella and Westerdykella , which are more beneficial to plant growth and TOC degradation. Furthermore, potential phytopathogens of Athelia and Penicillium were decreased with biochar amendment. The results demonstrate that biochar application should be sustained as an effective measure for improving the microbial characteristics of paddy field by ameliorating its soil properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Phosphorus (P) input and crop type cause differences in P loss via runoff. • Modified biochar reduced the runoff P concentration and loss load in all cropping systems. • Solid organic fertilizer decreased particulate P and colloidal P losses. • Biogas slurry increased the P loss in the runoff of the rice-wheat rotation system. Agricultural cropping systems involve the application of high fertilizer rates, which lead to phosphorus (P) losses via surface runoff to the aquatic environment, thereby resulting in severe eutrophication. Here, to evaluate the nutrient loss, we established three monitoring stations in Zhejiang Province, China, in each of which the crop types were double cropping rice, rice–wheat rotation, and vegetable cultivation. Field experiments were conducted with four treatments and three replications over a whole planting year. The four treatments at the same P application rate were: 1) no fertilization (control; CK), 2) chemical fertilization (CF), 3) substitution of 30 % chemical P in CF by organic P in solid sheep manure (OF) or in liquid biogas slurry (BS), and 4) substitution of 30 % chemical P in CF by organic P fertilizers (solid sheep manure or liquid biogas slurry) +1.5 t ha−1 polyacrylamide modified BC (PSB). The runoff losses of various P forms, that is, the total P, total dissolved P, particulate P, and colloidal P losses were analyzed. The total P concentration varied greatly with the crop growth stages. Compared with CF treatment, PSB treatment significantly reduced the concentration of P fractions in the runoff in all three cropping systems, while the OF treatment significantly reduced the particulate P and colloidal P concentrations by coating colloidal particles with organic carbon. However, BS treatment increased particulate P and colloidal P concentrations. Compared with CF treatment, PSB treatment reduced total P loss by 41.1 %, 29.7 %, and 37.8 % in the double cropping rice, rice–wheat, and vegetable systems, respectively. The PSB and OF treatments significantly reduced the particulate P and colloidal P losses, while BS treatment increased the loss of various P forms. Compared with the CF treatment, the PSB treatment significantly increased the available P contents by 12.7–85.4 mg kg-1, and decreased the colloidal P contents by 26.7 %–51.4 % in the soils examined. The results of the redundancy analysis confirmed that P loss via runoff was mainly caused by differences in the P inputs and crop types. The results of this study highlight the important role of PSB in reducing P loss via runoff from agricultural cropping systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• SOC and grain yield was measured with biochar and straw addition in maize-rice vs rice-rice system. • Straw addition has no effect on SOC accumulation for both cropping systems over a 4-year periods. • Biochar significantly improved more SOC in rice-maize system than rice-rice system. • Higher SOC under rice-maize system with biochar addition were linked increased soil aggregation. • Both biochar and straw addition led to higher late rice yield. Crop rotation of flooded rice with an upland crop like maize on previous continuous paddy soils is an emerging cropping system in South China. A four-year experiment was conducted at a research area in Hunan province, having a long history of double paddy-rice cropping throughout the year. Maize was introduced as an upland crop in rotation with paddy rice, thus providing two parallel cropping systems i.e., the previous flooded rice-rice (R–R) and the new maize-rice rotation (M–R) systems. We used three treatments in both cropping systems; namely, farmer's practice (without external C input) as a control, straw addition, and biochar addition. The straw and biochar were added to soil in late rice season on an equal C input basis (3000 kg C ha−1yr-1). In the R–R plots, rice straw was added while in M–R plots maize straw was added during late rice field preparation. Our results show that there were no changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration when R–R was replaced by M–R rotation. Straw addition had no effect on SOC but improved late rice yield. Biochar addition significantly increased SOC and late rice yield in both cropping systems. Moreover, biochar addition resulted in a more significant accumulation of SOC (9% higher) in M–R than R–R. Among soil aggregates, only the 0.25–2 mm fraction had a significantly higher SOC concentration with biochar relative to the control and straw return; and this increase was significantly more pronounced under M–R (28% higher) than R–R cropping system. In general, a significantly higher proportion of small macro-aggregates (0.25–2 mm) were found under M–R, while smaller aggregates (0.05–0.25 and <0.05 mm) were more abundant under R–R. δ13C analyses from M–R plots reveal that the quantity of maize-derived C was marginally higher in the straw treatment than control, but this was not reflected in any significant impact on total SOC of the bulk soil or of aggregates. In conclusion, no detectable changes in SOC were observed over four years experimental period following shift from R-R to M-R cropping system. M-R system with biochar addition led to higher productivity and environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]