Production of pine sawdust biochar supporting phosphate-solubilizing bacteria as an alternative bioinoculant in Allium cepa L., culture

We produced and characterised biochar made from Caribbean pine sawdust as raw material. The biochar (BC(500)) was used as biocompatible support to co-inoculate phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) (BC(500)/PSB) on Allium cepa L., plants at a greenhouse scale for four months. The three biomaterials study included proximate analysis, elemental analysis, aromaticity analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), adsorption studies at different pH and PSB stability as a function of time. The results indicated that BC(500) is suitable as organic support or solid matrix to maintain the viability of PSB able to solubilise P from phosphate rock (PR). The biofertilizer (BC(500)/PSB) allows increasing germination, seedling growth, nutrient assimilation, and growth of Allium cepa L., because PSB immobilised on BC(500) promoted nutrient mobilisation, particularly P, during cultivation of Allium cepa L., at pots scale. The two treatments to evaluate the biofertilizer (BC(500)/PSB) showed the highest concentrations of total P with 1.25 ± 0.13 and 1.38 ± 0.14 mg bulb(−1) in A. cepa L. This work presents the benefits of a new product based on bacteria naturally associated with onion and an organic material (BC(500)) serving as a bacterial carrier that increases the adsorption area of highly reactive nutrients, reducing their leaching or precipitation with other nutrients and fixation to the solid matrix of the soil.