Pear twig biochar combined with nitrogen fertilizer regulates morpho-physiological growth, copper uptake and tuber quality of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) grown in polluted soil.

Application of pear twig derived biochar and nitrogen fertilizer is strategic for addressing the challenges posed by copper pollution in soils. Their combined use aims to improve plant health and promote sustainable agricultural practices, which leads to better potato growth and quality. Therefore, this study was carried out to investigate the effects of different levels of pear twig biochar (B ₀ :0, B ₁ :3, B ₂ :5, B ₃ :7% w/w) combined with nitrogen fertilizer (N ₀ :0, N ₁ :150, N ₂ :200, N ₃ :250, N ₄ :300 mg kg ^-1 ) on morpho-physiological growth and copper uptake of potato cultivated in Cu polluted soil. Results showed that combined approach of pear twig biochar and nitrogen significantly influenced morpho-physiology, antioxidant enzyme activity, mineral content and tuber quality of potato. B ₂ N ₃ significantly increased the plant height and chlorophyll in plants as compared to B ₀ N ₀ (control). Malondialdehyde and proline contents were highest in control; however, maximum reductions in MDA and proline contents were recorded at B ₂ N ₄ (70.32% and 92.12% at budding stage, respectively) and at B ₂ N ₃ (82.44% and 91.93% at flowering stage, respectively). Likewise, B ₂ N ₃ showed maximum reduction in activities of peroxidase (7343.47 and 11077.27 U g ^-1 ), catalase (1184.98 and 165.64 U g ^-1 ) and superoxide dismutase (14.84 and 19.94 U g ^-1 ) at budding and flowering stages, respectively. However, lowest contents of soil available Cu (2.03 ± 0.5 μg g ^-1 ) and tuber flesh Cu (4.44 ± 0.3 μg g ^-1 ) were recorded at B ₂ N ₃ as compared to control. Interestingly, 7% biochar at all levels of nitrogen exhibited a significant decrease in soil available Cu and tuber flesh Cu. Tuber quality traits were also significantly improved at B ₂ N ₃ as compared to control. However, future research and field trials can help refine the best practices for integrating these elements in different agricultural systems.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Gang Deng reports financial support was provided by Yunnan University. Gang Deng reports a relationship with Yunnan University that includes: employment. No conflict of interest If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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