Abstract
Biochar can improve soil quality, increase crop production and sequester C in agricultural systems; however, this now needs critical evaluation in a sustainable agricultural context. In Pakistan, there is a gap in cereal-based wheat–maize–wheat cropping systems that lasts between 70–80 days. This “summer gap” can be used for growing short duration legume crops, which can provide valuable grain, fodder, or green manure and can provide a sustainable input of N into agricultural systems. We have used a field-based study to determine the effect of biochar application to an alkaline, nutrient poor, soil on the productivity of legume crops grown during the summer gap. Overall, biochar application (50 t ha−1) increased the productivity and yield of cowpea, mungbean and Sesbania over two cropping seasons compared to unamended non-biochar controls. The integration of biochar and legumes could be a useful strategy for improving the overall farm productivity of cereal-based cropping systems in Pakistan, by delivering a sustainable input of N to soil and providing increased yields from this additional summer gap crop.
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Claims 4
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased cowpea productivity and yield over two seasons relative to unamended controls.
- Taxon
- cowpea
Vigna unguiculatae0 - Treatment
- biochar application (50 t ha−1)e0
- Outcome
- productivity and yielde0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- over two cropping seasonse0
- Comparator
- unamended non-biochar controlse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“biochar application (50 t ha−1) increased the productivity and yield of cowpea, mungbean and Sesbania over two cropping seasons compared to unamended non-biochar controls”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased mungbean productivity and yield over two seasons relative to unamended controls.
- Taxon
- mungbean
.jpg?width=60)
Vigna radiatae0 - Treatment
- biochar application (50 t ha−1)e0
- Outcome
- productivity and yielde0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- over two cropping seasonse0
- Comparator
- unamended non-biochar controlse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
.jpg?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“biochar application (50 t ha−1) increased the productivity and yield of cowpea, mungbean and Sesbania over two cropping seasons compared to unamended non-biochar controls”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased Sesbania productivity and yield over two seasons relative to unamended controls.
- Treatment
- biochar application (50 t ha−1)e0
- Outcome
- productivity and yielde0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Qualifier
- over two cropping seasonse0
- Comparator
- unamended non-biochar controlse0
SesbaniaOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“biochar application (50 t ha−1) increased the productivity and yield of cowpea, mungbean and Sesbania over two cropping seasons compared to unamended non-biochar controls”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors propose integrating biochar and legumes to improve farm productivity and soil N input.
Verbatim
e0“The integration of biochar and legumes could be a useful strategy for improving the overall farm productivity of cereal-based cropping systems in Pakistan, by delivering a sustainable input of N to soil and providing increased yields from this additional summer gap crop.”
The same questions in other papers
biochar · yield · Vigna unguiculata (cowpea)Positive and negative results
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- no effect
- negative
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See all 22 papers →biochar · yield · Vigna radiata (mung bean)Results agree
8 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
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See all 9 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.