Filter Cake Biochar as a Soil Conditioner Cultivated with Native Cerrado Species: Effect on Soil Chemical and Microbiological Properties

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of filter cake biochar on the chemical and microbiological attributes of a dystrophic red-yellow latosol cultivated with macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata), araçá (Psidium firmum) and cajuzinho do cerrado (Anacardium humile), species native to the Cerrado. Thus, the responses of soil attributes were evaluated 120 days after transplanting the seedlings using four doses of biochar (1%, 2%, 4% and 8% v/v) and two control treatments (one with soil correction and fertilization and the other with no fertilization). The attributes evaluated were pH, contents of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, CTC, total and microbial organic carbon and nitrogen, and C:N ratio. For the soils cultivated with the three Cerrado species, the 1% dose of biochar and mineral fertilization were the treatments that best conditioned the soil during the cultivation period and promoted a better response of the chemical and microbiological attributes of the soil.

Keywords:
Biochar; microbial carbon; total organic carbon; soil fertility; nitrogen