Abstract
Introduction: Efficient water use while maintaining rice productivity remains a major challenge amid declining water resources. Biochar with large surface area and hydrophilic polymers, such as anionic polyacrylamide (PAM), can enhance soil moisture and nutrient retention. However, their combined effects on rice growth and soil hydro-physical properties have not been fully explored. Methods: This study evaluated the influence of biochar and PAM on soil properties, water retention, root growth, and rice performance under two establishment methods: the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Conventional Method (CM). A two-year field experiment was conducted on sandy clay loam soil using a split-plot design with SRI and CM as main plots and six soil amendment treatments (control, biochar, and polymer) as subplots, replicated thrice. Results and discussion: Results showed that SRI produced 15% higher grain yield while using 28.2% less irrigation water compared with CM. SRI also improved soil moisture (SM) content, infiltration rate (IR), hydraulic conductivity (HC), and water productivity (WP) by 6.6%, 64 5.4%, 9.0%, and 46.5%, respectively. Root length and weight densities under SRI were 1.31 and 1.62 times higher than under CM. The application of biochar (10 t ha⁻¹) and PAM (10 kg 66 ha⁻¹) significantly enhanced soil physical attributes, resulting in 1.22 and 1.27 times increases in grain yield and root length density, respectively, over the control. Integrating biochar and polymer with SRI reduced irrigation water use by 39.45% compared with CM. Overall, the combination of biochar (10 t ha⁻¹) and PAM (10 kg ha⁻¹) under SRI effectively improved soil hydro-physical properties, root development, water productivity, and rice yield in the sub-humid tropical Inceptisols of northern India.
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
SRI increased grain yield by 15% against CM.
Verbatim
e0“SRI produced 15% higher grain yield while using 28.2% less irrigation water compared with CM.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
SRI used 28.2% less irrigation water than CM.
Verbatim
e0“SRI produced 15% higher grain yield while using 28.2% less irrigation water compared with CM.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
SRI improved soil moisture content by 6.6%.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“SRI also improved soil moisture (SM) content, infiltration rate (IR), hydraulic conductivity (HC), and water productivity (WP) by 6.6%, 64 5.4%, 9.0%, and 46.5%, respectively.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
SRI improved infiltration rate; the reported magnitude is damaged.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“SRI also improved soil moisture (SM) content, infiltration rate (IR), hydraulic conductivity (HC), and water productivity (WP) by 6.6%, 64 5.4%, 9.0%, and 46.5%, respectively.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
SRI improved hydraulic conductivity by 9.0%.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“SRI also improved soil moisture (SM) content, infiltration rate (IR), hydraulic conductivity (HC), and water productivity (WP) by 6.6%, 64 5.4%, 9.0%, and 46.5%, respectively.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
SRI improved water productivity by 46.5%.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“SRI also improved soil moisture (SM) content, infiltration rate (IR), hydraulic conductivity (HC), and water productivity (WP) by 6.6%, 64 5.4%, 9.0%, and 46.5%, respectively.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
Root length density under SRI was 1.31 times higher than CM.
Verbatim
e0“Root length and weight densities under SRI were 1.31 and 1.62 times higher than under CM.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
Root weight density under SRI was 1.62 times higher than CM.
Verbatim
e0“Root length and weight densities under SRI were 1.31 and 1.62 times higher than under CM.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar and PAM increased grain yield 1.22 times over control.
Verbatim
e0“The application of biochar (10 t ha⁻¹) and PAM (10 kg 66 ha⁻¹) significantly enhanced soil physical attributes, resulting in 1.22 and 1.27 times increases in grain yield and root length density, respectively, over the control.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar and PAM increased root length density 1.27 times over control.
Verbatim
e0“The application of biochar (10 t ha⁻¹) and PAM (10 kg 66 ha⁻¹) significantly enhanced soil physical attributes, resulting in 1.22 and 1.27 times increases in grain yield and root length density, respectively, over the control.”
t0“basmati rice”
Claim · model-written summary
Biochar and polymer with SRI cut irrigation water use by 39.45% compared with CM.
Verbatim
e0“Integrating biochar and polymer with SRI reduced irrigation water use by 39.45% compared with CM.”
t0“basmati rice”
The same questions in other papers
irrigation · soil: physics · Oryza sativa (rice)Positive and negative results
25 papers in the same direction as this paper · 2 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- negative
- negative
- no effect
25 papers more in this group
See all 29 papers →biochar · growth · Oryza sativa (rice)Positive and negative results
63 papers in the same direction as this paper · 5 in the opposite direction · 1 reporting no difference from an alternative
- negative
- negative
- no effect
66 papers more in this group
See all 70 papers →biochar · yield · Oryza sativa (rice)Positive and negative results
134 papers in the same direction as this paper · 12 in the opposite direction
- negative
- no effect
- no effect
143 papers more in this group
See all 147 papers →irrigation · growth · Oryza sativa (rice)Positive and negative results
221 papers in the same direction as this paper · 62 in the opposite direction · 7 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- negative
- negative
287 papers more in this group
See all 291 papers →irrigation · physiology: water · Oryza sativa (rice)Positive and negative results
349 papers in the same direction as this paper · 25 in the opposite direction · 5 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- negative
- no effect
376 papers more in this group
See all 380 papers →irrigation · yield · Oryza sativa (rice)Positive and negative results
905 papers in the same direction as this paper · 201 in the opposite direction · 64 reporting no difference from an alternative
- no effect
- positive
- negative
1,167 papers more in this group
See all 1,171 papers →biochar · physiology: water · Oryza sativa (rice)Results agree
15 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
12 papers more in this group
See all 16 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.