Repurposing distillation waste biomass and low-value mineral resources through biochar-mineral-complex for sustainable production of high-value medicinal plants and soil quality improvement

The Science of the Total Environment
B B BasakAtanu Banerjee

Abstract

High cost of synthetic fertilizers and their hazardous effects catapult the exploration of alternative nutrient formulations and soil amendments. This study aimed to synthesize a novel biochar-mineral-complex (BMC), and evaluate its nutrient supplying and soil improvement performances. In a hydrothermal reaction, the BMC was prepared using a biochar derived from distillation waste of Lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus) and farmyard manure, for the first time via fortification with low-grade rock phosphate and waste mica. The BMC showed improved physico-chemical properties and nutrient availability than the pristine biochar. When applied to a deeply weathered acidic soil, the BMC significantly (P < 0.05) improved the herbage and bioactive compound (sennoside) yields of a medicinal plant (senna; Cassia angustifolia Vahl.) compared to the pristine biochar, farmyard manure, vermicompost, and chemical fertilizers. The BMC also improved the soil quality by increasing nutrient and carbon contents, and microbial activities. Soil quality improvement facilitated greater nutrient uptake in senna plants under BMC compared to the pristine biochar, and conventional organic and chemical fertilizer treatments. This study thus encourages the deve...Continue Reading

References

Sep 10, 2014·Environmental Science & Technology·Feiyue LiZhenliang Ding
Mar 1, 2016·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Ian DarbyShahla Hosseini Bai
Oct 22, 2017·Bioresource Technology·M A Sanchez-MonederoN Bolan
Feb 16, 2019·Journal of Environmental Management·Ahmed AshiqMeththika Vithanage
Mar 11, 2019·Journal of Environmental Management·K S D PremarathnaMeththika Vithanage
Nov 23, 2019·The Science of the Total Environment·Jing LuBin Hou

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