Biochar having great potential is very widely used in agriculture system, also have nutritional benefits for the plants.It gives the positive environment for the growth of Mycorrhiza but somehow it inhibits the growth of microorganisms in soil.
Good healthy soil should include a wide and balanced variety of life forms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms. Recently, biochar has been reported to increase the microbial respiration of the soil by creating space for soil microbes, and in turn the soil biodiversity and soil density increased. Biochar also served as a habitat for extra-radical fungal hyphae that sporulated in micropores therefore served as an inoculum for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. It is believed that biochar has a long average dwelling time in soil, ranging from 1000 to 10,000 years, with an average of 5000 years . However, its recalcitrance and physical nature present significant impediment to the evaluation of long-term stability.
High adsorptive surface of biochar inactivating the microbial cells and high pH coupled with EC of biochar could be the handicaps in microbial growth..
The role of biochar in developing a sustainable agriculture production system is immense and so is its potential in mitigating climate change, which stands much beyond its uses in agriculture.
Biochar contain carbon generally helpful for soil microbial population multiplication by maintenance of carbon sequestration for soil-clay-humus in soil.
Good healthy soil should include a wide and balanced variety of life forms, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms. Recently, biochar has been reported to increase the microbial respiration of the soil by creating space for soil microbes, and in turn the soil biodiversity and soil density increased. Biochar also served as a habitat for extra-radical fungal hyphae that sporulated in micropores therefore served as an inoculum for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. It is believed that biochar has a long average dwelling time in soil, ranging from 1000 to 10,000 years, with an average of 5000 years . However, its recalcitrance and physical nature present significant impediment to the evaluation of long-term stability.
Biochar contain enriched organic carbon with essential elements as minerals,amino acid, hormone, enzyme, vitamins which is helpful for multiplication of microbial population in soil -clay-humus systems to promote sustainable soil fertility and productivity of crop.
Biochar also helpful for buffering of soil reaction as acid, neutral, alkaline which is essential for sustainable microbial population like in acid soil fungal population may be dominant,in normal soil pH from 6 to 8 bacteria, actinomycetes population generally dominant .In strongly acid and alkaline soil living organisms like earthworm, termites, bacteria, actinomycetes population generally minimum which is not suitable for sustainable soil fertility and productivity of crop.
So, biochar application in soil may be encouraged for sustainable soil properties like soil physical, chemical, biological condition of soil essential for development of ideal soil-clay-humus systems a living systems of soil and store house of plant nutrients in the surface of the ecology of lithosphere as soil to provide food, fiber,fuel, shelter for the ever growing population of world.
Organic matter recycling followed by biochar as enriched organic matter application also helpful for sustainable soil fertility and productivity of crop .It has been established by the scientists that biochar as enriched organic matter in soil may contribute as active Orgainc matter for 1 to 2 years with 15 to 30
C:N ratio,as slow organic matter 15 to100 years with 10 to 25 C:N and as very slow organic matter for 500 to 5000 years with 7 to 10 C:N.So,long term built up sustainable soil fertility and productivity of crop essential to provide food, fiber, fuel, shelter for the ever growing population of world.
I have personally tested it on different growth media and observed no decrease in microbial population of soil on the contrary found a rise in cfu on increasing biochar level and FAME analysis also supported the same evaluation... However biochar are of different kinds depending on the starting material and condition of its preparation and it greatly influence its properties so that can be the reason why some results dictates otherwise
Pallavi Arora ..Could you please share published data on the same, you mentioned starting material and condition of preparation, if it is completely plant biomass and pyrolysis temp. between 600 to 650 degree, what could be possibility ?? In biochar Ash content is an important factor influencing microbes population.
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