Abstract
BACKGROUND: Soil degradation and nutrient deficiencies often limit soybean productivity and soil health. Biochar has emerged as a sustainable soil amendment to improve crop growth and soil health. Gyttja biochar is an innovative soil amendment with high organic matter and balanced nutrient contents compared to conventional biochar. Nonetheless, the ability of gyttja biochar to improve soybean growth and soil health is poorly investigated. Therefore, this study investigated the role of gyttja biochar in improving soybean growth and soil chemical health. METHODS: A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted using soil amended with gyttja-derived biochar at four concentrations [0.0% (control),1.5%, 3.0%, and 4.5%] to infer their impacts on growth and biochemical attributes of soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.], and soil chemical health. Growth parameters (plant height and biomass) and plant biochemical attributes (e.g., chlorophyll index, stomatal conductance, proline, malondialdehyde contents, and antioxidant enzyme activity) were analyzed. Post-harvest soil samples were analyzed for chemical properties including pH, electrical conductivity, and activities of catalase, urease, and dehydrogenase enzymes. RESULTS: Gyttja biochar significantly improved soybean growth and biochemical attributes compared to the control treatment. Growth traits were significantly increased (plant height by 20.9%, root length by 29.2%, and plant weight by 84.9%) with 4.5% concentration, and leaves showed greater chlorophyll index. Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities and lower oxidative stress indicators, reflecting improved plant health. Soil pH and electrical conductivity improved by 5.9% and 33.2%, respectively. Soil enzyme activities significantly increased, and urease activity nearly doubled compared to the control. CONCLUSION: Gyttja-derived biochar significantly improved soybean growth, biochemical attributes, and soil chemical health. These results indicate that converting gyttja sediment into biochar could improve crop productivity and soil fertility, providing an environmentally friendly approach to enhance agroecosystem health. Future research should include long-term, multi-season field trials to validate these results under varied environmental conditions, assess economic feasibility, and evaluate the effects of gyttja biochar across diverse soil types and soybean genotypes.
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Claims 10
Claim · model-written summary
At 4.5% biochar, soybean height increased 20.9%.
- Taxon
- soybean
Glycine maxt0 - Treatment
- 4.5% concentratione0
- Outcome
- plant heighte0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 20.9%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Growth traits were significantly increased (plant height by 20.9%, root length by 29.2%, and plant weight by 84.9%) with 4.5% concentration”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
At 4.5% biochar, soybean root length increased 29.2%.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- 4.5% concentratione0
- Outcome
- root lengthe0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 29.2%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Growth traits were significantly increased (plant height by 20.9%, root length by 29.2%, and plant weight by 84.9%) with 4.5% concentration”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
At 4.5% biochar, soybean plant weight increased 84.9%.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- 4.5% concentratione0
- Outcome
- plant weighte0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 84.9%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Growth traits were significantly increased (plant height by 20.9%, root length by 29.2%, and plant weight by 84.9%) with 4.5% concentration”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased soybean leaf chlorophyll index.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- Biochar-treated plantse1
- Outcome
- chlorophyll indexe0
- Direction
- greatere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“leaves showed greater chlorophyll index”
e1“Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities and lower oxidative stress indicators”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar increased antioxidant enzyme activity in soybean.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- Biochar-treated plantse0
- Outcome
- antioxidant enzyme activitiese0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar lowered oxidative stress indicators in soybean.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- Biochar-treated plantse0
- Outcome
- oxidative stress indicatorse0
- Direction
- lowere0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities and lower oxidative stress indicators”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar improved soil pH by 5.9%.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- Biochar-treated plantse1
- Outcome
- Soil pHe0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- 5.9%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Soil pH and electrical conductivity improved by 5.9% and 33.2%, respectively”
e1“Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities and lower oxidative stress indicators”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar improved soil electrical conductivity by 33.2%.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- Biochar-treated plantse1
- Outcome
- electrical conductivitye0
- Direction
- improvede0
- Value
- 33.2%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Soil pH and electrical conductivity improved by 5.9% and 33.2%, respectively”
e1“Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities and lower oxidative stress indicators”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar significantly increased soil enzyme activities.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- Biochar-treated plantse1
- Outcome
- Soil enzyme activitiese0
- Direction
- increasede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Soil enzyme activities significantly increased”
e1“Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities and lower oxidative stress indicators”
t0“soybean”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar nearly doubled soil urease activity relative to control.
- Taxon
- soybeanGlycine maxt0
- Treatment
- Biochar-treated plantse1
- Outcome
- urease activitye0
- Direction
- doublede0
- Value
- nearly doublede0
- Comparator
- the controle0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“urease activity nearly doubled compared to the control”
e1“Biochar-treated plants also exhibited increased antioxidant enzyme activities and lower oxidative stress indicators”
t0“soybean”
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