Biochar Combined with Vermicompost Increases Crop Production While Reducing Ammonia and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from a Paddy Soil

Organicamendmentssuchasvermicompostandbiocharhavebeenreportedtoenhancesoilfertilityandcropproductivity.However,whethertheco-applicationofbothamendmentshassynergisticeffectsorwhethersuchbenefitsareaccompaniedbytheriskofgaseousnitrogen(N)lossinanagroecosystemremainsunknown.Asoilcolumnexperimentwithafullyfactorialdesignwasconductedusingthreelevelsofvermicompost(nodose,lowdose(1%,weight:weight),andhighdose(3%,weight:weight))withoutorwithbiochar(1%,weight:weight)toinvestigatetheireffectsonricegrowthandgaseousNlossacrossthecropgrowingseason.Ourresultsdemonstratedthatsynergisticinteractionsexistedbetweenvermicompostandbiocharinpromotingcropyield.Comparedwithbiocharamendmentalone,biocharcombinedwithvermicompostsignificantly(P<0.01)increasedriceyieldby26.5%–35.3%.However,highdoseofvermicompostsignificantly(P<0.01)increasedthecumulativeammonia(NH3)andnitrousoxide(N2O)emissions.Inthepresenceofvermicompost,theincorporationofbiocharamendmentsignificantly(P<0.01)decreasedthecumulativeN2Oemissionby14.1%–18.6%.ThelowestemissionfactorvalueofNH3andN2Owasachievedusingbiocharincombinationwithlowdoseofvermicompost.Thisstudyrevealedthatthecombinationofbiocharandmoderatedoseofvermicompostoffersanovelapproachtopromotecropproductivitywhilereducingtheenvironmentalrisk.