Biochar-Complemented Compost: Production, Characterization, and Application
A special issue of Land (ISSN 2073-445X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (19 June 2024) | Viewed by 16497
Special Issue Editors
Interests: composting; biochar; soil quality; agriculture; bioremediation; smart monitoring and control systems for composting process
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
We are facing a phenomenal increase in organic wastes. On the other hand, areas of degraded land are expanding quickly, affecting land use for urban, agricultural, industrial and environmental purposes. Compost, biochar or their mixtures are considered as materials for resolving these issues.
Composting is one of the preferred ways of managing biodegradable wastes. Composting is largely a microbe-driven decomposition process that produces carbon- and nutrient-rich organic soil conditioner. Compost carries available and organically bound nutrients and carbon. After application of compost to a soil, organically bound nutrients and carbon are released over a long period of time through decomposition. Although composting is an age-old technique, we are increasingly depending on science to improve compost quality. Innovative ideas are being pursued to achieve such goals.
Biochar, a widely studied soil amendment made from organic sources, is a carbonaceous and porous material that has the potential to hold nutrients until required by plant roots and/or microorganisms. The primary source of nutrients in biochar is endogenic, i.e., feedstock. However, its porous nature may allow it to absorb and hold nutrients from exogenic sources, such as soil, wastewater, nutrient solution and compost. Biochar can also be artificially enriched with microbes of interest.
Complementing compost with biochar can be done by mixing, incubating, composting, etc. Complementing compost may bring together a wide range of benefits to both materials. Both compost and biochar can improve the physical, chemical and biological quality of soils by supplying labile and stable carbon and nutrients. Compost may also provide beneficial microbes. This means that biochar-complemented compost is a suitable material for soil application to achieve improved soil quality, increased crop production, and remediated contaminated soils.
This Special Issue of Land intends to cover research studies undertaken in the areas of compost and biochar-complemented compost, covering the production, characterization and application of these individual or combined material/s.
Dr. Naser Khan
Prof. Dr. Md. Jakariya
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- waste management
- compost
- biochar
- soil quality
- nutrient
- carbon
- agriculture
- bioremediation
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