The effect of biochar, lime and ash on maize yield in a long-term field trial in a Ultisol in the humid tropics

Hale, Sarah E; Nurida, Neneng L; Jubaedah; Mulder, Jan; Sørmo, Erlend; Silvani, Ludovica; Abiven, Samuel; Joseph, Stephen; Taherymoosavi, Sarasadat; Cornelissen, Gerard

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137455

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Hale, S. E., Nurida, N. L., Jubaedah, Mulder, J., Sørmo, E., Silvani, L., Abiven, S., Joseph, S., Taherymoosavi, S., & Cornelissen, G. (2020). The effect of biochar, lime and ash on maize yield in a long-term field trial in a Ultisol in the humid tropics. Science of the Total Environment, 719, 137455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137455

Abstract

A multi-season field trial was carried out to investigate the effect of the amendment of biochar, lime, ash and washed biochar on the growth of maize. A degraded, strongly acidic Ultisol (pHKCl 3.60), with a relatively high exchangeable aluminium content (2.4 cmolc/kg) and a low exchangeable calcium content (0.99 cmolc/kg), was used. Soil was treated once at the beginning of the field trial and crop growth was monitored over seven planting seasons (PS). All treatments increased maize yield. The average increases were; seven times for