Abstract
Abstract Background and aims Drought significantly limits crop productivity, highlighting the need for sustainable soil management. Black soldier fly larvae frass and biochar (a nutrient- and carbon-rich amendment) can increase plant productivity, but their combined effects under drought stress are poorly understood. Methods The experiment was designed to evaluate the effects of three factors on bell pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) growth, soil fertility, and rhizosphere bacteria: frass type (vegetable- and manure-derived), biochar presence (with or without), and water supply levels (well-watered at 70% and water-stressed at 35% field capacity). The experiment was conducted in a temperature-controlled glasshouse for 10 weeks. Results At harvest, shoot dry weight significantly increased by both frass types under both water supply conditions compared to the control. However, vegetable-derived frass resulted in greater shoot dry weight than manure-derived frass under well-watered conditions, whereas no significant difference was observed under water-stressed conditions. Biochar significantly increased shoot dry weight and shoot N content than without biochar. Frass increased shoot N content, soil NH 4 + -N, NO 3 − -N and dissolved organic carbon. Water stress decreased microbial biomass nitrogen, whereas both frass types increased the microbial biomass nitrogen and carbon. Co-applying biochar with manure-derived frass increased soil pH than frass alone. Under water-stressed conditions, combining frass with biochar enriched the relative abundance of bacterial genera, such as Porphyrobacter and Sphingomonas , which are associated with drought stress resilience. Conclusion This study highlights the potential of integrating frass and biochar as sustainable soil management strategies to enhance crop production under varying water conditions. Graphical Abstract
Abstract from the paper’s OpenAlex record; open copy licensed cc-by. Read at the source ↗
The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Both frass types significantly increased shoot dry weight of bell pepper under both water supply conditions compared with the control.
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“At harvest, shoot dry weight significantly increased by both frass types under both water supply conditions compared to the control”
Claim · model-written summary
Vegetable-derived frass produced greater shoot dry weight than manure-derived frass under well-watered conditions.
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“vegetable-derived frass resulted in greater shoot dry weight than manure-derived frass under well-watered conditions, whereas no significant difference was observed under water-stressed conditions”
Claim · model-written summary
There was no significant difference in shoot dry weight between vegetable- and manure-derived frass under water-stressed conditions.
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“vegetable-derived frass resulted in greater shoot dry weight than manure-derived frass under well-watered conditions, whereas no significant difference was observed under water-stressed conditions”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar significantly increased shoot dry weight and shoot N content compared with no biochar.
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“Biochar significantly increased shoot dry weight and shoot N content than without biochar”
Claim · model-written summary
Frass increased shoot N content of bell pepper.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“Frass increased shoot N content”
Claim · model-written summary
Frass increased soil NH4+-N, NO3--N and dissolved organic carbon.
- Taxon
- bell peppert0
- Treatment
- Frasse0
- Outcome
- soil NH 4 + -N, NO 3 − -N and dissolved organic carbone0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“Frass increased shoot N content, soil NH 4 + -N, NO 3 − -N and dissolved organic carbon”
Claim · model-written summary
Water stress decreased microbial biomass nitrogen.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“Water stress decreased microbial biomass nitrogen”
Claim · model-written summary
Both frass types increased microbial biomass nitrogen and carbon.
- Taxon
- bell peppert0
- Treatment
- both frass typese0
- Outcome
- microbial biomass nitrogen and carbone0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“both frass types increased the microbial biomass nitrogen and carbon”
Claim · model-written summary
Co-applying biochar with manure-derived frass increased soil pH compared with frass alone.
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“Co-applying biochar with manure-derived frass increased soil pH than frass alone”
Claim · model-written summary
Under water-stressed conditions, combining frass with biochar enriched the relative abundance of the bacterial genera Porphyrobacter and Sphingomonas.
- Taxon
- bell peppert0
- Treatment
- combining frass with biochare0
- Interactor
- PorphyrobacterPorphyrobactere0other
- Second interactor
- Sphingomonas
Sphingomonase0other - Outcome
- relative abundance of bacterial generae0
- Direction
- enrichede0
- Setting
- water-stressed conditionse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“Under water-stressed conditions, combining frass with biochar enriched the relative abundance of bacterial genera, such as Porphyrobacter and Sphingomonas”
Claim · model-written summary
Integrating frass and biochar is a potential sustainable soil management strategy to enhance crop production under varying water conditions.
Verbatim
t0“bell pepper”
e0“integrating frass and biochar as sustainable soil management strategies to enhance crop production under varying water conditions”
The same questions in other papers
fertilization · soil: chemistry · Capsicum annuum (sweet pepper)Positive and negative results
6 papers in the same direction as this paper · 1 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- positive
- positive
4 papers more in this group
See all 8 papers →biochar · growth · Capsicum annuum (sweet pepper)Positive and negative results
6 papers in the same direction as this paper · 3 in the opposite direction
- no effect
- no effect
- negative
6 papers more in this group
See all 10 papers →drought · soil: biology · Capsicum annuum (sweet pepper)Results agree
1 paper in the same direction as this paper
- negative
biochar · soil: chemistry · Capsicum annuum (sweet pepper)Results agree
4 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
1 paper more in this group
See all 5 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.