IMPACT OF COMPOST AND BIOCHAR ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SOIL SUSTAINABILITY

Abstract: Climate change, soil degradation, erosion, loss of soil organic matter and leaching of nutrients pose a major constraint to growth and yield of crops, as well as environmental quality. Compost and biochar have long been reported to significantly contribute to the betterment of soil quality, crop performance and environmental quality. However, the effectiveness of compost and biochar obtained from identical biomass in soil fertility and environmental improvement is still unknown. In this study, compost and biochar both produced from Elaeagnus tree as the soil amendments were individually applied at a rate of 0, 1, 2 and 4 % (wt/wt) to a sandy clay loam soil for determining their effects on soil fertility and environment. Experimental results showed that the improvements were proportional to the applied rates of biochar and compost, and both compost and biochar applications significantly improved soil fertility via increasing macro- and micronutrient of plant. However, biochar decreased micronutrient, indicating its potential in improving environmental quality via remediating heavy metals polluted soil. To conclude, both compost and biochar could be used as a promising avenue for improving soil sustainability via increasing soil fertility, thereby boosting agricultural production. Furthermore, biochar is recommended for being used in removing heavy metals from a polluted soil, and thereby mitigating environmental and soil pollution.