Biochar for Sustainable Soil Health： A Review of Prospects and Concerns

• Published in: Pedosphere Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 639 - 653
• Main Authors: LONE, Aabid H., NAJAR, Ghulam R., GANIE, Mumtaz A., SOFI, Javid A., ALI, Tahir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2015; Division of Soil Science, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir Shalimar, Srinagar J&K 190 025 India%Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir,Wadura, Sopore J&K 193 201 India%Research Centre for Quality and Residue Analysis, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir,Shalimar, Srinagar J&K 190 025 India
• Subjects: nitrate leaching; nitrogen fixation; nitrous oxide emission; soil amendment; soil biology; soil enzymes; soil remediation; soil-borne pathogens; 化学性质; 发现机制; 土传病害; 土壤健康; 土壤改良剂; 生物学过程; 生物炭; 综述; nitrous oxide emission; soil biology; soil remediation; nitrate leaching; soil enzymes; soil amendment; soil-borne pathogens; nitrogen fixation
• ISSN: 1002-0160; 2210-5107
• DOI: 10.1016/S1002-0160(15)30045-X

Biochar as a soil amendment is confronted with the challenge that it must benefit soil health as it can be by no means separated from soils once it is added. The available literature even though sparse and mostly based on short-term studies has been encouraging and the trend obtained so far has raised many hopes. Biochar has been reported to positively impact an array of soil processes ranging from benefiting soil biology, controlling soil-borne pathogens, enhancing nitrogen fixation, improving soil physical and chemical properties, decreasing nitrate （NO3 ） leaching and nitrous oxide （N2O） emission to remediation of contaminated soils. However, very little biochar is still utilized as soil amendment mainly because these benefits are yet to be quantified, and also the mechanisms by which the soil health is improved are poorly understood. Due to the infancy of research regarding this subject, there are still more questions than answers. The future research efforts must focus on carrying out long-term experiments and uncover the mechanisms underlying these processes so that key concerns surrounding the use of biochar are addressed before its large scale application is recommended.