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Aging of biochar-based fertilizers in soil: Effects on phosphorus pools and availability to Urochloa brizantha grass

Water-soluble phosphate fertilizers release phosphorus (P) to soils promptly, causing P fixation and low plant availability in highly weathered tropical soils. Therefore, the development of strategies to improve P use efficiency is needed. We hypothesized that biochar-based fertilizers (BBFs) can pr...

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Published in:The Science of the total environment 2020-03, Vol.709, p.136028-136028, Article 136028
Main Authors: Lustosa Filho, José Ferreira, Carneiro, Jefferson Santana da Silva, Barbosa, Cristiane Francisca, de Lima, Kelly Pereira, Leite, Aline do Amaral, Melo, Leônidas Carrijo Azevedo
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Language:English
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Summary:Water-soluble phosphate fertilizers release phosphorus (P) to soils promptly, causing P fixation and low plant availability in highly weathered tropical soils. Therefore, the development of strategies to improve P use efficiency is needed. We hypothesized that biochar-based fertilizers (BBFs) can provide available P to plants and improve P use efficiency when compared with soluble fertilizers. Thus, triple superphosphate (TSP) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) were pyrolyzed with and without magnesium oxide (MgO) and poultry litter to produce slow-release P BBFs. A pot experiment under greenhouse conditions was performed to evaluate agronomic efficiency of BBFs compared with TSP in an Oxisol. The treatments were incubated over 100 days after the application of 25, 50, 100, and 200 mg kg−1 of P. Three controls were used, including 200 mg kg−1 of P as TSP incubated for 100 days (named TSPincubation) and applied immediately before sowing (named TSPplanting) and a negative control (without P). Marandu grass (Urochloa brizantha cv. Marandu) was cultivated in pots for three cycles of 40 days each. After cultivation, a sequential extraction procedure was used to determine the P distribution among different P pools. The shoot dry matter yield in the first cropping cycle was higher at the highest P rate for TSPplanting. PLB-H3PO4-MgO showed 9% increase in the shoot dry matter when compared with TSPincubation in the first cropping cycle. In subsequent cropping cycles, all BBFs promoted higher biomass yield when compared with TSPplanting. There was an increase in the labile and moderately labile P fractions in soil after cultivation with PLB-TSP. The results suggest that BBFs can enhance P use efficiency in tropical soils in the middle- to long-term run due to slow-release profile that prevent P fixation and promote higher residual effect of fertilization. [Display omitted] •Phosphate sources and MgO were added to poultry litter to produce biochar-based P fertilizers (BBFs).•BBFs promoted higher biomass yields (mean 11%) as compared with those of TSP.•Labile and moderately labile P fractions increased with PLB-TSP application.•The use of poultry litter for BBFs production is an alternative to recycle secondary P.•BBFs is an effective substitute to conventional phosphate fertilizers in tropical soils.
ISSN:0048-9697
1879-1026
DOI:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136028