Abstract
Long-term application of mineral fertilizers might have adverse effects on soil quality and crop yield, which can be alleviated by biochar-based organic fertilizer (BOF) amendment that has been considered a potential strategy for improving soil quality and crop yields. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore the effects of partial substitution of mineral fertilizer with BOF on the yield and sugar content of sugar beet and to investigate whether such effects are correlated with the changes in photosynthesis, nitrogen assimilation, and sucrose synthesis. Five treatments, including one mineral fertilizer (CK) and four different application rates of BOF + inorganic nitrogen fertilizer, assigned as (B1), (B2), (B3), and (B4) treatments, were used. The total N, P2O5, and K2O contents for each treatment were equal, and their deficiency in the converter was overcome by mineral fertilizers. Compared with BOF, mineral fertilizer promoted sugar beet growth at 60 days after sowing (DAS). After 85 DAS, however, BOF enhanced photosynthetic pigment synthesis and photosystem II (PSII) activity, caused the delayed leaf senescence, and increased the amount of nitrogen assimilated and the capacity for sucrose synthesis in sugar beet leaves. Moreover, the B4 treatment significantly increased the soil nitrate-nitrogen content at the 100–200 cm soil depth and also the risk of leaching. The recommended optimal fertilization treatment was 3.25 t ha–1 BOFs + 50 kg ha–1 N + 25 kg ha–1 P2O5 + 25 kg ha–1 K2O (the B3 treatment).
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This research was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 32071973 and 31671622. The APC was funded by Cai feng Li.
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Conceptualization, CL and YW; methodology, YW; software, JZ; validation, JC, XW and XL; formal analysis, XW; investigation, SW; resources, CL; data curation, JC; writing—original draft preparation, JC; writing—review and editing, HZ; visualization, JC; supervision, YW; project administration, CL; funding acquisition, CL. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
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Chen, J., Wang, X., Liu, X. et al. Beneficial Effects of Biochar-Based Organic Fertilizers on Nitrogen Assimilation, Photosynthesis, and Sucrose Synthesis of Sugar Beet (Beta vulgaris L.). Int. J. Plant Prod. 16, 755–768 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42106-022-00219-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42106-022-00219-y