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Responses of methane emissions and rice yield to applications of biochar and straw in a paddy field

  • SOILS, SEC 5 • SOIL AND LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY • RESEARCH ARTICLE
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Directly returning straw back to the paddy field would significantly accelerate methane (CH4) emission, although it may conserve and sustain soil productivity. The application of biochar (biomass-derived charcoal) in soil has been proposed as a sustainable technology to reduce methane (CH4) emission and increase crop yield. We compared the effects of either biochar or rice straw addition with a paddy field on CH4 emission and rice yield.

Materials and methods

A 2-year field experiment was conducted to investigate a single application of rice straw biochar (SC) and bamboo biochar (BC) (at 22.5 t ha−1) in paddy soil on CH4 emission and rice yield as compared with the successive application (6 t ha−1) of rice straw (RS). Soil chemical properties and methanogenic and CH4 oxidation activities in response to the amendment of biochar and rice straw were monitored to explain possible mechanism.

Results and discussion

SC was more efficient in reducing CH4 emission from paddy field than BC. Incorporating SC into paddy field could decrease CH4 emission during the rice growing cycle by 47.30 %–86.43 % compared with direct return of RS. This was well supported by the significant decrease of methanogenic activity in paddy field with SC. In comparison to a non-significant increase with BC or RS application, rice yield was significantly raised with SC amendment by 13.5 % in 2010 and 6.1 % in 2011. An enhancement of available K and P and an improvement in soil properties with SC amendment might be the main contributors to the increased crop yield.

Conclusions

These results indicated that conversion of RS into biochar instead of directly returning it to the paddy field would be a promising method to reduce CH4 emission and increase rice yield.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (R5100044), the Specialized Research Fund for the Doctoral Program of Higher Education (20110101110083), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41271247). We thank Dr. Andrea Donnison for her constructive comments on the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, 310058, China

    Da Dong, Min Yang, Cheng Wang & Weixiang Wu

  2. School of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang A & F University, Lin’an Hangzhou, 311300, China

    Hailong Wang

  3. AFE SolutioNZ, P.O. Box 28098, Horsham Downs, Hamilton, 3256, New Zealand

    Yi Li

  4. AgResearch, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand

    Jiafa Luo

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  1. Da Dong
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  2. Min Yang
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Correspondence to Weixiang Wu.

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Reponsible editor: Jizheng He

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Dong, D., Yang, M., Wang, C. et al. Responses of methane emissions and rice yield to applications of biochar and straw in a paddy field. J Soils Sediments 13, 1450–1460 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-013-0732-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-013-0732-0

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