A brief investigation on the prospective of co-composted biochar as a fertilizer for Zucchini plants cultivated in arid sandy soil

Compost is commonly utilized to improve properties of infertile sandy soils, despite its high biodegradability which may increase greenhouse gases emissions. It is possible to combine compost with biochar, which degrades at a slower rate, forming a “co-composted biochar” product. This mixture could enhance plant growth parameters beyond those attained for using each component, individually. To investigate this assumption, zucchini was selected as a test plant to be grown, under greenhouse conditions, on a sandy soil that received biochar, compost or co-composted biochar (from rice straw or sugarcane bagasse (SB)) for a duration of 15 days. This timeframe was deemed sufficient to achieve a relatively stable degradation rate for compost. Application of organic materials increased both fresh and dry weights of zucchini plants, particularly when co-composted biochar of SB was used. Specifically, plant fresh weights increased by 1.24–1.71 folds when using this additive versus the control group. Additionally, availability of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in soil and their uptake by plants significantly increased owing to application of all additives, with superiority for the co-composted biochar of SB. Enhancements in plant fresh weights were strongly correlated with increasing availability and uptake of phosphorus by plants. In conclusion, organic amendments have a substantial positive impact on enhancing the nutritional status and growth of zucchini, even during the early vegetative growth stage (within the first 15 days after planting). The greatest improvements were observed when co-composted biochar of SB was used and this confirm the main hypothesis of the study.