Has compost with biochar added during the process added value over biochar or compost to increase disease suppression?

Adding biochar at the onset of composting has proven to be beneficial for this process, and when added to the soil, this biochar-blended (BB) compost has outperformed biochar on soil quality but had a similar effect as the compost. Because soil quality gets more and more attention as an important to...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Applied soil ecology : a section of Agriculture, ecosystems & environment Vol. 153; p. 103571
Main Authors:	Debode, J., Ebrahimi, N., D'Hose, T., Cremelie, P., Viaene, N., Vandecasteele, B.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier B.V 01-09-2020
Subjects:	Basal rot Chemical soil properties Microbiological soil properties Physical soil properties Potato cyst nematode Microbiological soil properties Basal rot Physical soil properties Chemical soil properties Potato cyst nematode
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Summary:	Adding biochar at the onset of composting has proven to be beneficial for this process, and when added to the soil, this biochar-blended (BB) compost has outperformed biochar on soil quality but had a similar effect as the compost. Because soil quality gets more and more attention as an important tool for soil health, pot trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of compost and biochar alone, and biochar-blended (BB) compost on disease suppression. In addition, it was investigated whether the disease suppression was associated with changes in soil quality (chemical, physical and biological soil properties). The two selected bio-assays were Rhizoctoniasolani (basal rot) on lettuce and potato cyst nematodes (PCN) on potato. Both compost and BB compost released mineral N and thus increased lettuce and potato yield but biochar did not. None of the amendments affected the susceptibly of lettuce leaves to basal rot. Compost suppressed PCN while biochar had no effect on PCN reproduction. Moreover, BB compost reduced the suppressing effect of compost. We suggest that the inhibitory effect of biochar blended in compost might be attributed to the fungal biomass which was not increased in the BB compost-amended soil compared to compost-amended soil, and/or the absorbance of suppressive compounds by the high surface area of biochar. Interestingly, all three amendments reduced the water evaporation from the soil surface, which can have important implications for drought stress of plants. [Display omitted] •Compost suppressed potato cyst nematodes, but biochar and BB compost did not.•None of the amendments affected the susceptibly of lettuce leaves to basal rot.•Compost and BB compost increased lettuce and potato yield, but biochar did not.•Compost and BB compost increased total microbial biomass in soil, biochar did not.•Compost, BB compost, and biochar reduced water evaporation from the soil surface.
ISSN:	0929-1393 1873-0272
DOI:	10.1016/j.apsoil.2020.103571