Biochar addition alleviate the negative effects of drought and salinity stress on soybean productivity and water use efficiency

• Published in: BMC plant biology Vol. 20; no. 1; pp. 288 - 11
• Main Authors: Zhang, Yaojun, Ding, Jiaqi, Wang, Hong, Su, Lei, Zhao, Cancan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 22.06.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Abiotic factors; Agricultural management; Agricultural production; Analysis; Biochar; Biomass; Carbon dioxide; Charcoal; Conductance; Crop growth; Crop production; Crop productivity; Crop yield; Crop yields; Crops; Drought; Drought stress; Droughts; Efficiency; Environmental stress; Flowering; Gas exchange; Gases - metabolism; Glycine max - drug effects; Glycine max - growth & development; Glycine max - metabolism; Leaf gaseous exchange; Leaves; Legumes; Nutrition; Phenology; Photosynthesis; Physiology; Plant biochemistry; Plant growth; Plant Leaves - metabolism; Plant resistance; Productivity; Resistance; Salinity; Salinity effects; Salinity stress; Salt Stress; Soybeans; Stomata; Stomatal conductance; Studies; Sustainability; Sustainable agriculture; Transpiration; Water; Water - metabolism; Water use; Water use efficiency; Drought stress; Salinity stress; Leaf gaseous exchange; Water use efficiency; Biochar; Crop productivity
• ISSN: 1471-2229; 1471-2229
• DOI: 10.1186/s12870-020-02493-2

Environmental stress is a crucial factor restricting plant growth as well as crop productivity, thus influencing the agricultural sustainability. Biochar addition is proposed as an effective management to improve crop performance. However, there were few studies focused on the effect of biochar addition on crop growth and productivity under interactive effect of abiotic stress (e.g., drought and salinity). This study was conducted with a pot experiment to investigate the interaction effects of drought and salinity stress on soybean yield, leaf gaseous exchange and water use efficiency (WUE) under biochar addition. Drought and salinity stress significantly depressed soybean phenology (e.g. flowering time) and all the leaf gas exchange parameters, but had inconsistent effects on soybean root growth and WUE at leaf and yield levels. Salinity stress significantly decreased photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, intercellular CO concentration and transpiration rate by 20.7, 26.3, 10.5 and 27.2%, respectively. Lower biomass production and grain yield were probably due to the restrained photosynthesis under drought and salinity stress. Biochar addition significantly enhanced soybean grain yield by 3.1-14.8%. Drought stress and biochar addition significantly increased WUE by 27.5 and 15.6%, respectively, while salinity stress significantly decreased WUE by 24.2%. Drought and salinity stress showed some negative interactions on soybean productivity and leaf gaseous exchange. But biochar addition alleviate the negative effects on soybean productivity and water use efficiency under drought and salinity stress. The results of the present study indicated that drought and salinity stress could significantly depress soybean growth and productivity. There exist interactive effects of drought and salinity stress on soybean productivity and water use efficiency, while we could employ biochar to alleviate the negative effects. We should consider the interactive effects of different abiotic restriction factors on crop growth thus for sustainable agriculture in the future.