Can biochar and polyacrylamide improve saline soil quality?

Hence, it is essential to choose suitable and efficient approaches to revitalize coastal saline soil quality and improve agricultural productivity. Biochar and polyacrylamide (PAM) have been widely applied as soil amendments to enhance soil structure, but the interactive effects of biochar and PAM on rice growth are unclear.

How does biochar affect saline soil?

Biochar and PAM lowered the soil total salt and bulk density, but increased SOM, MWD, and macroaggregate (> 0.25 mm) content. The interaction of biochar and PAM had a significant effect on soil total salt. The addition of biochar and PAM to saline soil had significant effects on the leaf photosynthetic traits of rice.

Does biochar enhance soil hydraulic function but not soil aggregation?

Zhou H, Fang H, Zhang Q, Wang Q, Chen C, Mooney SJ, Peng X, Du Z (2018) Biochar enhances soil hydraulic function but not soil aggregation in a sandy loam. Eur J Soil Sci 70 (2):291–300

How effective is biochar for rice growth?

The path analysis model showed that spikelets per panicle and canopy gross photosynthesis had strong and significant positive effects on grain yield, whereas soil total salt had a negative effect on grain yield. The combined application of 32 t/hm 2 biochar + 0.6 t/hm 2 PAM was identified as the most effective for rice growth.

Does biochar increase stomatal conductance?

The application of either biochar or PAM increased the rice net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance. The combined application of 32 t/hm 2 biochar + 0.6 t/hm 2 PAM increased the net photosynthetic rate by 26.0% and the transpiration rate by 24.8% relative to the control.

Does biochar improve soil water retention?

This may have been due to the combined application of biochar and PAM directly or indirectly promoting soil water retention, increasing nutrient availability, improving the physicochemical conditions of the saline soil, and thereby facilitating high agricultural productivity (Major et al. 2010; Lee et al. 2015).