How can potatoes be smartly cultivated with biochar as a soil nutrient amendment technique in Atlantic Canada?
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S. I. BIOCHAR
How can potatoes be smartly cultivated with biochar as a soil nutrient amendment technique in Atlantic Canada? Aitazaz A. Farooque 1 & Qamar Zaman 2 & Farhat Abbas 1 & Hafiz Mohkum Hammad 3 & Bishnu Acharya 1 & Travis Easu 2 Received: 4 January 2019 / Accepted: 18 April 2020 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2020
Abstract The question if biochar is a suitable soil nutrient amendment for potato cultivation in the Atlantic Canada is yet to be answered. The objective of this study was to answer this question. Three replicates of twelve lysimeters, each 8000 cm2, were packed with an Atlantic Canada representative soil to cultivate potatoes with four treatments of soil amendments (T1 = control [no added nutrients], T2 = B [biochar], T3 = F [synthetic fertilizer @ recommended NPK], and T4 = B + F [biochar + recommended NPK]) under a completely randomized block design with factorial arrangements. Chemical analyses of soils were conducted for physical, hydrological, and chemical (including concentration of macro- and micro-nutrients) prior to and after the completion experiments to evaluate soil fertility and its resulting effects on crop yield. The biochar amendment improved soil micro- and macro-nutrients. Soil organic matter, pH, and cation exchange capacity (ECE) significantly increased by application of biochar. The maximum potato yield of 30,467.4 kg h−1 was achieved by the combined application of biochar and synthetic fertilizer as this combination resulted in the maximum net benefit ($4433.98 ha−1) in comparison with control treatment that had net loss of $– 2621.49 ha−1. It is therefore concluded that biochar amendment of soils resembling to that of the Atlantic Canada representative soil used in this study, with a mix of recommended NPK for, can formulate a smart precision farming nutrient management technique for this region subject to the field trials and replicate experimental treatments for more than three times. Keywords Economic analysis . Natural resource management . Precision agriculture . Soil micro- and macro-nutrients . Soil fertility
Introduction Canada produces high quality potatoes (Solanum tuberosum L.), which is one of the most consumed vegetable worldwide. It is an export commodity of the Province of Prince Edward This article is part of the Topical Collection on Implications of Biochar Application to Soil Environment under Arid Conditions * Aitazaz A. Farooque [email protected] * Farhat Abbas [email protected] 1
Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown PEI, C1A 4P3, Canada
2
Department of Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Dalhousie University, B2N 5E3, Truro, NS, Canada
3
Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus, Vehari 61100, Pakistan
Island, Canada. The potato industry in Atlantic Provinces of Canada is highly profitable as Canada has been among the global leaders in potato production, with two of its Atlantic Canadian provinces, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, contributin
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