Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon Sequestrations
Drip fertigation with reduced fertilizer and water inputs has been widely used in greenhouse vegetable production in China. However, farmers usually do not apply additional organic material with a high carbon content, although soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations are mostly below the optimum lev...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/7/1661 |
| _version_ | 1797441346012708864 |
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| author | Yiming Zhao Shan Lin Haofeng Lv Yafang Wang Jing Hu Guoyuan Li Klaus Butterbach-Bahl |
| author_facet | Yiming Zhao Shan Lin Haofeng Lv Yafang Wang Jing Hu Guoyuan Li Klaus Butterbach-Bahl |
| author_sort | Yiming Zhao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Drip fertigation with reduced fertilizer and water inputs has been widely used in greenhouse vegetable production in China. However, farmers usually do not apply additional organic material with a high carbon content, although soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations are mostly below the optimum level for vegetable production. Returning straw or biochar to fields is an effective strategy for sustainability and environmental friendliness. We tested whether drip fertigation, (DIF) combined with maize straw (DIF+S) or biochar (DIF+BC), is a suitable option to improve SOC sequestration over eight growing seasons, and how these options affect soil N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and yields or partial factor productivity of applied N (PFP<sub>N</sub>) of crops over three growing seasons. During the winter–spring growing season, DIF+BC significantly reduced soil N<sub>2</sub>O emission by 61.2% and yield-scaled N<sub>2</sub>O emission by 62.4%, while increasing the tomato yield and PFP<sub>N</sub> compared with DIF. Straw incorporation had similar trends but without significant effects. Conversely, straw and biochar incorporation increased N<sub>2</sub>O emission during the autumn–winter season. The structural equation model indicated N<sub>2</sub>O emission was dominantly driven by soil NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N concentration, temperature and moisture. The N<sub>2</sub>O emission factor decreased significantly with increased PFP<sub>N</sub>. Moreover, the contribution of biochar to the increased SOC was approximately 78%, which was four times higher than that of straw incorporation. Overall, the results highlighted the potential of drip fertigation with biochar incorporation to mitigate N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, improve PFP<sub>N</sub> and significantly increase SOC storage, which could all contribute to maintaining environmental sustainability and soil quality of greenhouse vegetable production. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:22:41Z |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:22:41Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
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| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-4bfa2b7ec71f4daaa366e538850f13752023-11-30T22:39:01ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952022-07-01127166110.3390/agronomy12071661Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon SequestrationsYiming Zhao0Shan Lin1Haofeng Lv2Yafang Wang3Jing Hu4Guoyuan Li5Klaus Butterbach-Bahl6College of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Resources and Environmental Sciences, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, ChinaCollege of Life Science and Technology, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan 432000, ChinaInstitute for Meteorology and Climate Research (IMK–IFU), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 82467 Garmisc-Partenkirchen, GermanyDrip fertigation with reduced fertilizer and water inputs has been widely used in greenhouse vegetable production in China. However, farmers usually do not apply additional organic material with a high carbon content, although soil organic carbon (SOC) concentrations are mostly below the optimum level for vegetable production. Returning straw or biochar to fields is an effective strategy for sustainability and environmental friendliness. We tested whether drip fertigation, (DIF) combined with maize straw (DIF+S) or biochar (DIF+BC), is a suitable option to improve SOC sequestration over eight growing seasons, and how these options affect soil N<sub>2</sub>O emissions and yields or partial factor productivity of applied N (PFP<sub>N</sub>) of crops over three growing seasons. During the winter–spring growing season, DIF+BC significantly reduced soil N<sub>2</sub>O emission by 61.2% and yield-scaled N<sub>2</sub>O emission by 62.4%, while increasing the tomato yield and PFP<sub>N</sub> compared with DIF. Straw incorporation had similar trends but without significant effects. Conversely, straw and biochar incorporation increased N<sub>2</sub>O emission during the autumn–winter season. The structural equation model indicated N<sub>2</sub>O emission was dominantly driven by soil NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>-N concentration, temperature and moisture. The N<sub>2</sub>O emission factor decreased significantly with increased PFP<sub>N</sub>. Moreover, the contribution of biochar to the increased SOC was approximately 78%, which was four times higher than that of straw incorporation. Overall, the results highlighted the potential of drip fertigation with biochar incorporation to mitigate N<sub>2</sub>O emissions, improve PFP<sub>N</sub> and significantly increase SOC storage, which could all contribute to maintaining environmental sustainability and soil quality of greenhouse vegetable production.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/7/1661drip fertigationincorporation of straw or biocharN<sub>2</sub>O emissionssoil organic carbongreenhouse vegetable production |
| spellingShingle | Yiming Zhao Shan Lin Haofeng Lv Yafang Wang Jing Hu Guoyuan Li Klaus Butterbach-Bahl Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon Sequestrations Agronomy drip fertigation incorporation of straw or biochar N<sub>2</sub>O emissions soil organic carbon greenhouse vegetable production |
| title | Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon Sequestrations |
| title_full | Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon Sequestrations |
| title_fullStr | Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon Sequestrations |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon Sequestrations |
| title_short | Increasing the Environmental Sustainability of Greenhouse Vegetable Production by Combining Biochar Application and Drip Fertigation—Effects on Soil N<sub>2</sub>O Emissions and Carbon Sequestrations |
| title_sort | increasing the environmental sustainability of greenhouse vegetable production by combining biochar application and drip fertigation effects on soil n sub 2 sub o emissions and carbon sequestrations |
| topic | drip fertigation incorporation of straw or biochar N<sub>2</sub>O emissions soil organic carbon greenhouse vegetable production |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/7/1661 |
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