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The Effect of Biochar and Nitrogen Inhibitor on Ammonia and Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Wheat Productivity

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Abstract

A field experiment was conducted study the effect of biochar and a nitrification inhibitor (nitrapyrin) on NH3 and N2O emissions from a silt clay loam soil near Peshawar, Pakistan. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with eight treatments in three replicates: (no urea), urea (150 kg N ha−1), B (6 t ha−1), B (12 t ha−1), urea + B6, urea + B12, urea + B6 + NI (700 g ha−1), and urea + B12 + NI. Application of urea with two levels of biochar reduced total NH3 by 18–29% and N2O emissions by 25–22%, respectively, relative to the treatment with urea alone. Nitrous oxide emission was significantly lower (51%) in the nitrapyrin treatment than in the urea-alone treatment (P < 0.05), but there was no effect on NH3 emission. The wheat plant biomass, grain yield, and total N uptake increased significantly by 10–21%, 05–15%, and by 11–25%, respectively, in the treatments with urea and biochar, relative to the treatment with urea alone. Additionally, nitrapyrin further enhanced biomass, grain yield, and total N uptake by 33%, 19%, and 46%, respectively, relative to the treatment with urea alone. The results indicate that application of urea with biochar or in combination with nitrapyrin has the potential to mitigate NH3 and N2O emissions, which are important to increase nitrogen use efficiency and wheat productivity.

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Acknowledgements

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is thankfully acknowledged for their financial support (CRP: D15016, Contract 18680). We also acknowledge IAEA technical cooperation project RAS 5083 for their financial support. The authors extend their appreciation to the Researchers supporting project number (RSP-2020/173) King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Soil and Environmental Science, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Khadim Dawar & Hammad Khan

  2. Soil and Water Management & Crop Nutrition, Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food & Agriculture, P.O. Box 100, 1400, Vienna, Austria

    Mohammad Zaman

  3. Institute of Plant Ecology, Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany

    Christoph Muller

  4. Department of Plant Pathology, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Peshawar, Pakistan

    Syed Sartaj Alam

  5. Hainan Key Laboratory for Sustainable Utilization of Tropical Bioresource, College of Tropical Crops, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, Hainan, China

    Shah Fahad

  6. Department of Agronomy, The University of Haripur, Haripur, 22620, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

    Shah Fahad

  7. Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia

    Mona S. Alwahibi & Jawaher Alkahtani

  8. Department of Agriculture, The University of Swabi, Swabi, 23561, Pakistan

    Beena Saeed

  9. Department of Horticulture, Northeast Agriculture University, Harbin, 150000, China

    Shah Saud

  10. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Hafiz Mohkum Hammad

  11. Department of Agronomy, University College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur (IUB), Bahawalpur, Pakistan

    Wajid Nasim

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  1. Khadim Dawar
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  2. Hammad Khan
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  3. Mohammad Zaman
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  4. Christoph Muller
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  6. Shah Fahad
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  7. Mona S. Alwahibi
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  9. Beena Saeed
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Contributions

KD and SF involved in conceptualization; HK, CM, SSA, and MSA participated in methodology; JA, BS, and SS participated in software; HMH, WN, and MZ did validation; MZ did formal analysis; HK did investigation; MZ did data curation; SF, KD, and MZ performed writing—original draft preparation; MSA and CM involved in writing—review and editing; and SF participated in visualization, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Shah Fahad.

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Dawar, K., Khan, H., Zaman, M. et al. The Effect of Biochar and Nitrogen Inhibitor on Ammonia and Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Wheat Productivity. J Plant Growth Regul 40, 2465–2475 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00344-020-10283-1

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