Mr Jinze Bai1,2, Prof Yongzhong Feng2, Prof Sudhir Yadav1
1The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Australia, 2Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
Biography:
Bai J is an early career researcher with a strong interest in crop, soil, and ecology science. He has worked on long-term soil greenhouse gas emissions monitoring in a wheat-maize cropping system and explored the carbon sequestration potential of biomass utilisation in agri-food systems. He has published one paper as the first author in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. He has two papers as one of the first three authors in Applied Soil Ecology and Soil Use and Management and two papers as the lead author in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment and Journal of Environmental Management, which are currently under review.
Abstract:
Biochar is a promising carbon sequestration strategy that can improve the physicochemical conditions of soil for crop growth. However, the effects of biochar on soil enzyme activities are unclear, limiting our understanding of its impact on soil biological health. A six-year field experiment was conducted in a temperate wheat-maize agroecosystem in north-western China, with three treatments: (i) no straw incorporation (C), (ii) straw incorporation (S), and (iii) straw incorporation combined with biochar amendment (SB). The results showed that straw incorporation significantly increased soil labile carbon and nitrogen fractions and related acquisition enzyme activities, promoting increases in microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) by 126.8% and 93.2%, respectively (P < 0.05). Compared with S, SB decreased soil labile fractions and significantly suppressed β-glucosidase (BG), β-N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG), and leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) activities by 29.1%, 58.8%, and 16.3%, respectively, leading to a 14.3% reduction in MBC. Significant increases in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen were observed in SB compared to S, contributing to increases in grain and residue yields by 964.6 kg ha-1 and 869.3 kg ha-1, respectively. Overall, this study suggests that straw and biochar amendments can effectively increase soil fertility and enhance crop productivity in semi-arid regions.