Water stress is a crucial factor constraining global agricultural production. Thus, as a response to the growing water scarcity, soil management strategies that boost plant water use efficiency should be adopted. Rice shoots contain up to ~10% Si in their dry matter. Since silicon application in soil reduces transpiration from some plants' leaves, rice hull biochar with high Si contents could serve as a source of available Si in agriculture. This study compared water use efficiency by corn plants in sandy soil. The treatments included 1) control (no amendment), 2) triple superphosphate fertilizer (TSP), 3) rice hull biochar (BC) only, 4) rice hull biochar treated with magnesium sulfate and potassium hydroxide (BCF1), 5) BCF1 treated with diammonium phosphate (BCF2), 6) Rice hell treated with magnesium chloride and ammonia (BCF3), 7) silicon fertilizer (SiF) and 8) silicon fertilizer plus triple superphosphate fertilizer (SF+TSP). Except for the control and SiF treatments, equal P loads equivalent to 29.7 kg P ha-1 were added to each pot. Both Si and P uptakes followed the order BCF2 &gt; BCF3 &gt; SiF+TSP &gt; TSP &gt;BC &gt; BCF1 &gt; SiF &gt; C, suggesting nutrient availability of phosphorus treated rice hull biochar. Both water use efficiency and above-ground dry weight yield positively correlated to Si and P uptakes (p values = &lt; 1.02x10-5, R2 &gt; 0.97). This demonstrates that silicon fertilization enhances P availability which subsequently improves plant growth and water use efficiency.

Nutrient-enriched rice hull biochar improves water use efficiency by corn grown in acidic soil

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.