Biochar enhances the growth and physiological characteristics of Medicago sativa, Amaranthus caudatus and Zea mays in saline soils

Ghulam Murtaza; Muhammad Rizwan; Muhammad Usman; Sajjad Hyder; Muhammad Irfan Akram; Maha Deeb; Jawaher Alkahtani; Bandar M AlMunqedhi; A S Hendy; Mohamed R Ali; Rashid Iqbal; Wiwiek Harsonowati; Muhammed Habib Ur Rahman; Muhammad Rizwan

doi:10.1186/s12870-024-04957-1

Biochar enhances the growth and physiological characteristics of Medicago sativa, Amaranthus caudatus and Zea mays in saline soils

BMC Plant Biol. 2024 Apr 22;24(1):304. doi: 10.1186/s12870-024-04957-1.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China.
² School of Energy Science and Engineering, Central South University, Changsha, 410083, China. mrizwan17@hotmail.com.
³ School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 800 Dongchuan Road, Minghang District, Shanghai, 200240, China.
⁴ Department of Botany, Government College Women University Sialkot, Sialkot, 51310, Pakistan.
⁵ Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63000, Pakistan.
⁶ Soils and Substrates, HEPIA, HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁷ Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, P. O. 2455, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Computational Mathematics and Computer Science, Institute of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Ural Federal University, 19 Mira St., Yekaterinburg, 620002, Russia.
⁹ Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Future University in Egypt, New Cairo, 11835, Egypt.
¹⁰ Basic Engineering Science Department, Benha Faculty of Engineering, Benha University, Benha, 13518, Egypt.
¹¹ Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan. rashid.iqbal@iub.edu.pk.
¹² Research Center for Horticulture, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Cibinong, 16915, Bogor, Indonesia.
¹³ Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany.
¹⁴ Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation (INRES), University of Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany. m.rizwan@uni-bonn.de.

Abstract

Biochar is a promising solution to alleviate the negative impacts of salinity stress on agricultural production. Biochar derived from food waste effect was investigated on three plant species, Medicago sativa, Amaranthus caudatus, and Zea mays, under saline environments. The results showed that biochar improved significantly the height by 30%, fresh weight of shoot by 35% and root by 45% of all three species compared to control (saline soil without biochar adding), as well as enhanced their photosynthetic pigments and enzyme activities in soil. This positive effect varied significantly between the 3 plants highlighting the importance of the plant-biochar interactions. Thus, the application of biochar is a promising solution to enhance the growth, root morphology, and physiological characteristics of plants under salt-induced stress.

Keywords: Amaranthus caudatus; Medicago sativa; Zea mays; Biochar; Plant growth; Salinity.

MeSH terms

Amaranthus* / drug effects
Amaranthus* / growth & development
Amaranthus* / physiology
Charcoal*
Medicago sativa* / drug effects
Medicago sativa* / growth & development
Medicago sativa* / physiology
Photosynthesis / drug effects
Plant Roots / drug effects
Plant Roots / growth & development
Salinity
Soil* / chemistry
Zea mays* / drug effects
Zea mays* / growth & development
Zea mays* / physiology

Substances

biochar
Charcoal
Soil