International Journal of Plant & Soil Science

In many countries, after harvesting, farmers choose to burn crop residues in their fields as waste material.  As a result, burning of crop residues like cotton stalks, maize stalks, rice husk, etc., releases a lot of carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere, contributing to climate change, which causes air pollution. The primary objective of this research was to practically demonstrate the conversion of biomass into biochar and to explore its application as a valuable substance with an aim to discuss the impact of biochar application on soil properties and SOC stock at harvest of maize grown on Vertisols. The field trial was carried out in 2020-21 (Kharif) at Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Dr. PDKV, Akola, Maharashtra, India. The experiment was conducted by using a Randomised Block Design (RBD) with eight treatments comprised of control, different rates of nitrogen and their combinations with 2.5 and 5.0 t ha^-1 biochar and three replications. The data were subjected to statistical analysis. Based on the results obtained from analysis, the physical and chemical properties of soil such as water holding capacity (55.35%), organic carbon (6.48 g kg^-1), available nitrogen (249.33 kg ha^-1), phosphorus (21.63 kg ha^-1) and potassium (358 kg ha^-1) after harvest of maize were found to be significantly higher by applying 125 % RDN + 5 t ha^-1 of  Biochar, while, the bulk density, electrical conductivity and soil pH were found to be non-significant by various treatments. Increasing the doses of biochar resulted in a slight increase in the availability of Zn, Cu, Fe & Mn, but the differences among the treatments were found to be statistically non-significant. The higher the quantity of biochar applied, the greater the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock was recorded. Based on the current study, it can be concluded that, application of 100% RDN + 5 t ha^-1 Biochar improves the available nutrient status and physical-chemical properties of soil after the harvest of maize. Additionally, a favourable impact on the soil organic carbon (SOC) stock is also noted.