Continuous applications of biochar to rice: Effects on nitrogen uptake and utilization

Improving soil quality is critical for increasing rice yield, and biochar could be a beneficial soil amendment for high yield. This study was conducted to determine the effects of continuous (repeated seasonal) applications of biochar on nitrogen (N) uptake and utilization in rice. A fixed field experiment was done in Yongan Town, Hunan Province, China, in six continuous seasons (the early and late rice-growing seasons from 2015 to 2017). Results showed that biochar application did not significantly affect soil N uptake in the first four seasons. The effect of biochar application on fertilizer N uptake was not significant in three of the first four seasons. In the fifth and sixth seasons, biochar application resulted in 14–26% increases in soil N uptake but 19–26% decreases in fertilizer N uptake. Soil N availability did not explain the increased soil N uptake with biochar application. The decreased fertilizer N uptake with biochar application was attributed to both decreased fertilizer N availability and increased N loss through ammonia volatilization. As a consequence of a compensation between the increased soil N uptake and the decreased fertilizer N uptake, the effect of biochar application on total N uptake was not significant in the fifth and sixth seasons. However, biochar application led to 7–11% increases in internal N use efficiency in the fifth and sixth seasons and 6% increase in grain yield in the sixth season. Our study suggests that the effects of repeated seasonal applications of biochar on N uptake and utilization in rice depend on the duration of biochar application. Longer continuous applications of biochar can increase internal N use efficiency and grain yield in rice with insignificant change in total N uptake.