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Effect of biochar on the growth and yield of cotton and maize: A review

Article · May 2020

DOI: 10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i3g.9271

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 International Journal of Chemical Studies 2020; 8(3): 572-578

P-ISSN: 2349–8528
E-ISSN: 2321–4902
www.chemijournal.com Effect of biochar on the growth and yield of
IJCS 2020; 8(3): 572-578
© 2020 IJCS cotton and maize: A review
Received: 13-03-2020
Accepted: 15-04-2020
A Karthik, Syed Abul Hassan Hussainy and M Rajasekar
A Karthik
Senior Technical Assistant,
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22271/chemi.2020.v8.i3g.9271
Central Institute for Cotton
Research, Regional Station,
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Abstract
Improper management of soil along with exhaustive monocropping practices have led to loss of soil
Syed Abul Hassan Hussainy structure, salinity and erosion and thereby decreasing the soil productivity. Furthermore, misappropriate
Teaching Assistant, application of synthetic fertilizers have driven contamination of food and water, pollution of environment
Department of Agronomy, AC & creating an endangerment to human health. Therefore, an urgent need to find an alternative solution in
RI, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India improving the soil health without reduction in the productivity from a unit area in a sustainable manner is
of prime focus. This review is related to biochar, its role in improving soil fertility in combination with
M Rajasekar fertilizers and manures on growth and yield of cotton and maize crop. The retention and mobilization of
Teaching Assistant, nutrients in biochar applied soil tremendously aid in increasing the fertilizer use efficiency. Moreover,
Department of Agronomy,
studies have shown improved germination and biomass accumulation over time along with better yield
AC & RI, Kudumiyanmalai,
Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu, India
attributes and yield of most crops which majorly include cotton and maize. This lays a foundation to
utilize abundantly available problematic plant Prospis sp. and crop residues like cotton and maize from
agricultural fields for biochar preparation rather than burning thus supporting in the reduction of global
warming issues.

Keywords: Biochar, cotton, maize, prosopis biochar, cotton biochar, maize biochar

Introduction
Cotton is one of the most important natural fibre crops cultivated worldwide and termed as
“King of fibres” and “White gold” due its higher economic value. Cotton occupies a major
sector in India’s economy and plays a vital role in the livelihood of Indian farming
community. It provides 85 per cent raw material to the textile industry besides earning foreign
exchange by exporting raw materials and finished goods. Cotton as a cash crop is being
cultivated in many parts of the world occupying an area of 31.2 million hectares with a
production of 20.6 million tonnes and productivity of 792 kg ha-1 (USDA, 2017) [62]. Further,
India occupies highest acreage in the world with an area of 12.4 million hectares. The cotton
production during 2017-18 was 6.29 million tonnes with productivity of 505 kg ha-1. The
tremendous production of cotton was achieved mainly through use of synthetic fertilizers and
pesticides, along with high yielding fertilizer responsive cultivars under irrigated condition
(Peshin et al., 2014) [43].
Among the cereal crops, maize is one of the most important crop in the world and used as food
for human beings and feed for animals and poultry. The yielding ability of maize is on higher
side than other cereals and therefore named as “Queen of Cereals”. Maize is cultivated in
different countries with total area of 197.2 million hectares, production of 1134.7 million
tonnes and productivity of 5755 kg ha-1 (FAOSTAT, 2017) [17]. In India, it occupies third place
as an important crop after rice and wheat. Maize grain serves as important feed material for
poultry and cattle industries and its demand is increasing all over India. In India, maize is
grown in an area of 9.2million hectares, with a production of 28.7milliontonnes and the
average productivity is 3115 kg ha-1 during 2017-18. Maize is highly suitable crop to cultivate
throughout the year and well suited in the cropping system in Tamil Nadu, which gives not
Corresponding Author: only higher productivity but also a remunerative crop to the farmers.
A Karthik At present, crop diversification through cropping system has gained much importance from
Senior Technical Assistant, research perspective to improve soil health. Adoption of cropping system has many advantages
Central Institute for Cotton
Research, Regional Station,
like improvement in yield, increased nutrient, water and land use efficiency. It also improves
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India sustainability of the system along with economic benefits to the farmers through different
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cropping sequences. In Tamil Nadu, cotton – maize cropping content of soil. The increased availability of phosphorus
system is gaining importance among the farmers as it resulted from the oxidation and combination of Al and Fe in
provides higher profitability along with productivity. soils with biochar, which released the fixed P in the soil. Jha
It is a fact that in India around 91 – 141 million tonnes of crop et al. (2010) [26] reported that significant reduction in leaching
residues are produced annually which have surplus biomass of N, Ca and Mg was observed through biochar addition. The
and are subjected to on-farm burning. Cereal crops produce soil organic C and total N content was increased when biochar
82 million tonnes of surplus residues, in which 44 million was applied on chromium polluted and unpolluted soils. Soils
tonnes is from paddy. Fibre crops contribute around 33 applied with 10 t ha-1 maize stalk biochar recorded higher
million tonnes of surplus residues, in this 80 per cent are from organic carbon and total nitrogen. This was due to higher
cotton (IARI, 2017) [25]. Farmers usually burn excess residues carbon and nitrogen content present in the maize stalk
in the field for easy preparation for planting next crop. This (Nigussie et al., 2012) [39].
unidentified loss of nutrients from biomass moreover also Manikandan and Subramanian (2013) [37] observed that the
release toxic as well as greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. biochar produced at low temperature contained more than 98
The use of biochar, a porous, carbon rich material prepared per cent carbon and oxygen and there act as suitable adsorbent
from crop biomass through pyrolysis process could help in for controlled/slow release of fertilizer nutrients. Kamara et
saving nutrient losses sustainably. The crop biomasses are al. (2015) [28] claimed that the rice straw biochar applied soil
subjected to thermo-chemical conversion under absence of had higher available phosphorus of 11.5 mg kg-1 soil and
oxygen with a temperature range 350 °C to 500 °C. Al-Wabel higher cation exchange capacity of 10.2 cmol kg-1 than
et al. (2013) [4] stated that biochar has been extensively used control. This showed that application of rice straw biochar
for increasing the fertility of agricultural soils. It has drawn improved soil physical and chemical properties.
special attention due to its potential of climate change Srinivasarao et al. (2014) [59] studied the residual effect of
mitigation (Atkinson et al., 2010) [7]. Biochar absorbs biochar on soil quality and crop performance with one time
moisture and retains nutrients in the soil, thereby reduces the application of different biochar prepared from maize, castor,
amount of mineral fertilizer required and protects crops from cotton and pigeon pea stalk at different rates to maize (DHM
drought impacts (Laghari et al., 2016) [31]. 117) in rainfed alfisols and found that residual maize stalk
The properties of biochar material produced through pyrolysis biochar @ 4 t ha-1 in soil along with RDF and FYM resulted
process depend upon the biomass used and also the in higher soil available nitrogen (175.6 kg ha-1), phosphorus
temperature involved in preparation. Biochar application into (22.5 kg ha-1), potassium (328.0 kg ha-1) and organic carbon
the soil as an amendment improves soil physical, chemical content (15.1 g kg-1). Ok et al. (2015) pointed out biochar
and biological properties and thereby solves many of the soil amended soils recorded higher nutrients especially N, P,
related issues (Singh et al., 2012) [54]. Biochar is persistent in organic C and other mineral elements compared with
soils and its beneficial effects are longer lasting compared to unamended soil.
other forms of organic matter. The unique nature of the Agegnehu et al. (2016) [1] inferred that application of biochar
biochar is that it retains most of the applied nutrients and with fertilizer increases soil K and Mg content by 1.2 and 1.1
makes them available to growing plants than other organic times, respectively over the control. The leaf P content was
matter like on farm common leaf litter, compost or manures higher on biochar amended soil due to availability of P to the
(Schulz et al., 2013) [51]. plants than in control, implying that biochar supplied P
The excess crop residues accumulated in the field after through improved availability by reducing sorption and
harvest can be effectively utilized for biochar preparation. leaching. Biochar along with compost application resulted
The different types of biochar in combination with organic increased soil organic carbon, total N, available P and
and inorganic fertilizers significantly improve soil tilth exchangeable Ca by 43–73 per cent, 14–29 per cent, 59–117
(Glaser et al., 2002) [22], crop productivity (Graber et al., per cent and 31–54 per cent, respectively. Amendment of
2010) [24] and nutrient availability (Lehmann et al., 2006; cotton stalk biochar in sandy soil increased nutrient content of
Silber et al., 2010) [53, 32]. The increase in crop yield in biochar phosphorus by 4.2 times and potassium by 13.9 times
incorporated soil was due to higher nutrient availability and compared to control. Further, application of cotton biochar in
concentrations of basic cations (Uzoma et al., 2011a) [53]. In fine textured soil resulted in minor increase in pH (Zhang et
acid soils, liming effect of biochar enhances soil microbial al., 2016) [75].
diversity and its function, together with increasing cation Pandian et al. (2016) [41] concluded that the soil available
exchange capacity and crop water availability (Anderson et nitrogen content was in the range from 158 to 178 kg ha−1 in
al., 2011) [6]. Sandy soils which have smaller surface area biochar incorporated soil. Redgram stalk biochar and maize
compared to other soil types, when applied with biochar stalk biochar @ 5 t ha−1applied soil recorded 25 per cent
improve the water holding capacity. Porous nature and higher higher soil available nitrogen and phosphorus than the
surface area of biochar leads to retention of higher amount of control. The highest available K was observed in soil treated
soil moisture available for crop uptake (Fang et al., 2014) [16]. with redgram stalk biochar and cotton stalk biochar @ 5 t
The biochar has major benefits like improving soil fertility, ha−1.
structure, water holding capacity, organic carbon content, Berihun et al. (2017) [8] opined that biochar application results
increased biological activity, thereby, improved crop yield in in significant increase in carbon, nitrogen, potassium and
a sustainable manner (Masto et al., 2013) [38]. It also serves as available phosphorus in biochar treated soil. Wisnubroto et al.
better alternate for other organic manures as it does similar (2017) [70] stated that after harvesting of rice crop, the soil
work as that of FYM and other composts. applied with ammonium enriched biochar had higher nitrogen
content of 0.14 per cent than nitrate enriched biochar of 0.11
Effect of biochar on nutrients retention and availability per cent and control of 0.09 per cent.
According to DeLuca et al. (2009) [13] biochar produced at
temperatures higher than 300 °C resulted in significant
increase in available P content and no change in total P
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Effect of biochar on nutrient use efficiency Pandian et al. (2016) [41] recorded higher plant height in
Gaskin et al. (2008) [19] indicated that biochar, when applied groundnut crop with application of redgram stalk biochar @ 5
in combination with fertilizers reduced fertilizer requirement t ha−1 and control plot registered shorter plants. Height of
as it prevent leaching of applied nutrients. Application of beans, fenugreek and mint was recorded as 36 cm, 12 cm and
biochar @ 5 t ha-1 decreased fertilizer need by 7 per cent. The 20 cm, respectively in biochar treated soil and these are 55 per
impact of biochar application was seen in highly degraded cent, 62 per cent and 35 per cent greater than control plot,
acidic or nutrient depleted soils. According to Sohi et al. respectively (Kalyani, 2016) [27]. According to Berihun et al.
(2010) [56] biochar created impact on crop production through (2017) [8] the application of 12 t ha−1of Lantana camara
the direct modification of soil chemistry with its elemental biochar considerably improved plant height. Wisnubroto et al.
composition, by providing chemically active sites. This alters (2017) [70] reported that 45 days after planting of rice, plant
the dynamics of soil nutrients by soil reactions or by height in non-biochar plot was only 29.3 cm and higher plant
modifying the physical character of the soil resulted in better height of 40.3 cm was noted in biochar applied plots.
root growth, nutrient and water retention and acquisition.
Peng et al. (2012) [42] suggested that biochar addition along Leaf chlorophyll
with fertilizers leads to better establishment and growth of Significant increase in leaf chlorophyll content was observed
crops compared to chemical fertilizer application alone. by Agegnehu et al. (2015) [2] when biochar was applied along
Widowati et al. (2014) [69] recorded that biochar addition with compost and fertilizer in maize. The increase in leaf
decreased N fertilizer requirement and increased soil organic chlorophyll content with plant age was in correlation with
carbon. Uzoma et al. (2011b) [64] reported that application of availability of nutrients and water over period of time with
biochar along with manure increased maize yield by 98–150 application of organic amendments.
per cent and water use efficiency by 91–139 per cent.
Alburquerque et al. (2014) [5] observed increased fertilizer use Dry matter production
efficiency when biochar was combined with fertilizer. Yeboah et al. (2009) [73] claimed that application of 3 t ha–1
Deb et al. (2016) [12] pointed out biochar enhanced nutrient biochar along with 120 kg N ha–1 recorded higher shoot dry
supply by retaining higher amount of nutrients in soil. weight in maize due to improved nutrient retention of biochar.
Through sorption of nitrates and phosphates, leaching losses The shoot dry weight ranged from 41 to 45 g pot–l for the
were minimal. Ghezzehei et al. (2014) [21] found that biochar sandy loam soil and 28 to 35 g pot–l for the silt loam soil.
can adsorb up to 20–43 per cent of 5 mg per gram of biochar Revell et al. (2012) [48] stated that incorporation of cow
ammonium and 19–65 per cent of the phosphate. manure biochar @ 15 and 20 t ha-1 increased dry matter yield
of maize by 150 per cent and 98 per cent respectively
Effect of biochar on plant growth characteristics compared non treated plots.
Germination Agegnehu et al. (2017) [3] found that addition of organic
Van Zwieten et al. (2010) [67] claimed improvement in amendments along with biochar increased leaf chlorophyll
germination of wheat with application of paper mill waste content. Thereby facilitated production of healthier plants
biochar @ 10 t ha-1. Solaiman et al. (2012) [57] recorded that which ultimately resulted in higher biomass and grain yield of
the germination percentage was increased from 93 to 98 per crops. Pandian et al. (2016) [41] inferred that application of
cent in wheat crop with the addition of biochar @ 10 t ha−1 redgram stalk biochar and maize stalk biochar @ 5 t ha−1 in
produced from different source materials. groundnut resulted in longest root of 12.5 cm and higher root
Kamara et al. (2015) [28] pointed out application of maize biomass of 351 g, which was 36 per cent and 45 per cent
stover biochar recorded significantly higher germination per higher than the control. Further, dry matter accumulation
cent and seedling emergence in rice and maize crops. (2202 kg ha−1) and pod yield (1661 kg ha−1) was highest in
Manikandan (2014) [36] found that the application of biochar redgram stalk biochar @ 5 t ha−1 applied plots and the
@ 2.5 t ha-1 to 10 t ha-1 increased the germination from 93.9 increase was 24 and 29 per cent over control, respectively.
per cent to 96.4 per cent. Rajalakshmi et al. (2015) [46] tested Berihun et al. (2017) [8] concluded that amendment of Lantana
the effect of prosopis biochar on germination in the soil less biochar @ 18 t ha−1 significantly increased fresh shoot and
petridish bioassay with green gram, rice and cotton with dose root biomass resulting in higher dry matter production.
ranging from 10-30 t ha-1. The results showed increased Wisnubroto et al. (2017) [70] opined that application of
germination and root length of the seedlings in the petridish. nitrogen enriched biochar significantly increased rice dry
Agegnehu et al. (2016) [1] inferred that the positive effect of biomass to 69.4 g pot-1 compared to control of 43.2 g pot-1.
biochar on germination of maize was due to alteration in the
physical condition of soil, modification in thermal dynamics Effect of biochar on crop yield parameters and yield
as a result of dark colour of biochar, possible water Kimetu and Lehmann (2010) [30] stated that maize yield
availability and hormonal effects. Ramzani et al. (2017) [47] doubled after addition of biochar @ 8 t ha-1. Application of
concluded that application of biochar @ 5 to 10 t ha-1 in low biochar along with inorganic fertilizer increased crop
fertility soils improved the germination per cent, shoot length, productivity and also generate additional income by reducing
shoot dry weight and shoot fresh weight of wheat. The the cost and quantity of inorganic fertilizer used (De Gryze et
maximum germination percentage of 96.02 per cent and al., 2010) [11]. Purakayastha et al. (2015) [44] indicated that
germination index of 24.03 per cent were recorded in lantana application of wheat straw biochar @ 1.9 t ha-1 along with
biochar applied treatment in garden pea (Berihun et al. (2017) recommended dose of fertilizers of 180:80:80 NPK ha-1
[8]
. significantly increased the yield of maize and this was
superior over control. According to Vaccari et al. (2011) [65]
Plant growth parameters amendment of biochar at 10 t ha-1 recorded higher grain yield
Kamara et al. (2015) [28] stated that growth of the rice plants in maize, wheat and also in ryegrass in pot culture trials.
was significantly influenced by rice straw biochar and higher Galinato et al. (2011) [18] reported that biochar application to
plant height was noted in biochar treated plots than control. acid soil resulted in 58 per cent yield increase in wheat.
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The highest pigeonpea grain yield of 1685 kg ha-1 was Berihun et al. (2017) [8] found that the highest pod numbers
recorded with alternate year application of cotton stalk were recorded in garden peas under the application of
biochar @ 3 t ha-1 along with fertilizers. Castor stalk biochar Lantana biochar @ 12 t ha-1. Wisnubroto et al. (2017) [70]
application @ 6.0 t ha-1 either every year or alternate year claimed that rice planted in nitrogen enriched biochar soil
with recommended dose of fertilizers gave marginally higher yielded a higher grain yield of 49.3 g pot-1 compared to that of
yield than other treatments (CRIDA, 2012) [10]. Suppadit et al. planted on non-biochar treated soil of 27.2 g pot-1.
(2012) [60] studied the effect of biochar on soybean yield
attributes and yield in pot experiment using sandy soil and Impact of biochar on growth, yield and quality of cotton
observed significant yield increase with 98.4 g biochar Elangovan (2014) [15] found that the plant height was higher
application per pot. throughout the growing stages of cotton crop in biochar @ 10
Zhang et al. (2013) [77] claimed that biochar amendment t ha-1 along with RDF and FYM applied plots over control.
produced significant effect on rice yield by 10 per cent in the Xu et al. (2016) [71] inferred that at China in cotton crop, two
first cycle and by 9.5–29 per cent in subsequent cycle. Liu et years after biochar application improved the boll number (118
al. (2013) [33] reviewed biochar effect on productivity of bolls m-2) and cotton yield (0.69 kg m-2) in the second year.
different crops (from 59 pot experiments and 57 field Shen et al. (2018) [52] in China concluded that biochar
experiments from 21 countries) and stated that the increase in applications to silt loam soil to cotton crop increased seed
crop productivity was on an average of 11 per cent. Under cotton yields and the increases in cotton yield could be
field conditions, application of biochar at less than 30 t ha -1 attributed to the addition of required nutrients along with
was advantageous and increase in crop productivity varied biochar resulted in improvement in soil structure.
with crops i.e. 30 per cent in legumes, 29 per cent in Fibre length and fibre strength was significantly greater in the
vegetables, 14 per cent in grasses, 8 per cent in corn, 11 per biochar applied @ 20 t ha-1 treatment than in the control.
cent in wheat and 7 per cent in rice. Fiber elongation greatly increased in biochar applied @ 10
Srinivasarao et al. (2013) [58] found that the maize grain yield and 20 t ha-1 treatments compared with the control (Tian et
in biochar treated plots was significantly higher than control al., 2018) [61].
plots. Further, higher nitrogen use efficiency of 91.0 kg grain- Qian et al. (2017) [45] opined that soil amendment of biochar
1
kg N was recorded with application of biochar @ 6.0 t ha-1 + has significant influence on the soil bacterial community,
RDF followed by biochar @ 3.0 t ha-1 + RDF with N use which increased the microbial diversity in cotton under
efficiency of 52 kg grain kg-1 N. Van Vinh et al. (2015) [66] continuous cropping systems. Zhang et al. (2017) [76] also
inferred that in comparison with NPK applied plots, rice reported similar findings. Biochar effects on soil microbial
yields were increased by 5.9-22.3 per cent in biochar treated population are complex in nature and are mainly depends on
plots and by 26.3- 34.2 per cent in compost mixed with 5 per type and quantity of biochar added in the soil (Lu et al., 2018;
cent biochar. In case of vegetables, biochar application Singh Mavi et al., 2018) [55].
increased the yield by 4.7-25.5 per cent compared to normal Zeng et al. (2019) [74] stated that in China, biochar application
cultivation practices. in continuously cropped cotton soil up to 20 years,
Coumaravel et al. (2015) [9] concluded that under Integrated significantly increased bacterial diversity. At the same time,
Plant Nutrition System (IPNS), application of biochar @ 10 t up to 40 years significantly decreased microbial diversity and
ha-1 along with RDF of 250:75:75 kg ha-1 + FYM @ 12.5 t ha- richness under all the biochar application rates.
1
and Azospirillum @ 2 kg ha-1 had recorded significantly
higher yield and NPK uptake with sustained soil fertility. Impact of biochar on growth, yield and quality of maize
Gebremedhin et al. (2015) [20] opined that grain and straw Major et al. (2010) [35] indicated that biochar application had
yields of wheat were significantly increased by 15.7 per cent no significant effect on maize yield in the first year, but
and 16.5 per cent, respectively in plots applied with biochar increased maize yields during the next 3 years by 28–140 per
and fertilizers of 100 kg urea +100 kg DAP + 4 ton biochar cent. According to Varela Milla et al. (2013) applied biochar
ha-1 over the control plot which received only inorganic improved the biomass production by increased plant weight,
fertilizers. increased the root size and leaf width. Zhu et al. (2017)
Gokila and Baskar (2015) [23] stated that application of reported that biochar + NPK amendment of a red soil
biochar @ 5 t ha-1 with RDF and bio-fertilizer recorded the increased maize total biomass upto 2.7–3.5 and 1.5–1.6 times
highest 100 grain weight (38.9 g), cob length (23.5 cm) and compared to that of NPK only and biochar only amendments,
cob weight (310 g) over other treatments and control in maize respectively.
crop. The higher grain and stover yield of 8100 and 12150 kg Zhang et al. (2017) [76] observed that, maize yield was
ha-1, respectively were also recorded in the same treatment. increased to the tune of 11.9 per cent and 35.4 per cent in
Application of biochar @ 5.0 t ha-1 significantly improved the balanced fertilization system with wheat straw biochar @ 20 t
yield attributes and yield of maize and French bean ha-1 over control during two years of study period (2011 and
(Srinivasarao et al., 2014) [59]. Yang et al. (2016) recorded the 2012) in calcareous inceptisol soils of China. Agegnehu et al.
maize yield of 12.2 and 12.6 t ha-1 with application of 2 t ha-1 (2016) [1] claimed that in Australia application of biochar
and 4 t ha-1 in maize stalk biochar and control plot yield was along with RDF produced higher total biomass of 21.0 t ha-1
4.2 t ha-1. and grain yield of 9.2 t ha-1 in maize crop than control with
Deb et al. (2016) [12] indicated that biochar applied along with 17.7 t ha-1 and 7.0 t ha-1 respectively.
Phosphorus Solublizing Mycorrhizae (PSM) recorded Sarkhot et al. (2013) [50] found that as Nutrient Enriched
significant mean crop yield for jute, rice, radish, and tomato Biochar (NEB) having high surface area, it adsorbed the
in India and for radish in Thailand. Further, biochar alone nutrients of NH4+, NO3-, K+, Ca2+, Zn2+ and reduced losses
applied plot shown less beneficial effect on crop productivity. and this offered great mechanisms for developing slow release
According to Kang et al. (2016) [29] the rice yield was higher fertilizer by using biochar which in turns improved nutrient
in order of biochar applied plot of 421.8 g m−2 and lower yield use efficiency and increased the crop yield. Eazhilkrishna et
of 198.5 g m−2 was control in plot. al. (2017) [14] pointed out that application of 125 per cent RDF
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through NEB recorded higher grain yield of 5677 kg ha-1 and 9. Coumaravel K, Santhi R, Maragatham S. "Effect of
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