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Biochar and fertiliser applications influence phosphorus fractionation and wheat yield

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Abstract

The use of biochar in agriculture to achieve the dual benefits of improving soil quality whilst sequestering carbon (C) has received much attention. However, in low-intensity broadacre agricultural systems where yield is constrained by rainfall and costs associated with phosphorus (P) fertiliser, the application of biochar at rates commonly reported (>10 t ha−1) are likely to be prohibitively expensive where yield benefits cannot be guaranteed. In marginal areas where calcareous soils dominate, biochar application has no liming effect, reducing its value compared to application in acidic soils. In the present study, we use a field experiment to investigate the interaction between P fertilisation and biochar banding at low application rates (<1 t ha−1) on wheat yield and soil P fractionation (assessed by a modified Hedley method) in a highly alkaline Haplic Calcisol in a dryland broadacre cropping system. Our results demonstrate no statistically significant effect of low rate biochar banding on wheat yield in this highly P-constrained soil, but a significant effect of both biochar and fertiliser on P fractionation in both years of the study. Higher P fertiliser rates significantly increased wheat yield in all biochar treatments. The interactions between biochar, P fertiliser and P fractionation indicate shifts in potential P availability both as a result of P fertilisation and also biochar application. Further work is required in low productivity calcareous systems such as that studied here to elucidate the potential for biochar amendment to improve productivity and sequester C.

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Acknowledgments

This project is supported by funding from the Australian Government under its Climate Change Research Program and through the CSIRO Sustainable Agriculture Flagship. Mr Thomas Carter and Mrs Janine McGowan of CSIRO are thanked for technical support. Mr Simon Patterson is thanked for providing the land on which the trial was conducted. Dr Evelyn Krull is acknowledged for her early comments and guidance in experimental design.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Land & Water/Sustainable Agriculture Flagship, PMB 2, Glen Osmond, South Australia, 5064, Australia

    Mark Farrell & Lynne M. Macdonald

  2. South Australia No Till Farmers’ Association, PO Box 923, Clare, South Australia, 5453, Australia

    Greg Butler

  3. Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, PO Box 85084, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Ivan Chirino-Valle & Leo M. Condron

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  1. Mark Farrell
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  2. Lynne M. Macdonald
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  4. Ivan Chirino-Valle
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  5. Leo M. Condron
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Correspondence to Mark Farrell.

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Farrell, M., Macdonald, L.M., Butler, G. et al. Biochar and fertiliser applications influence phosphorus fractionation and wheat yield. Biol Fertil Soils 50, 169–178 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0845-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00374-013-0845-z

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