Application of Biochar in Sustainable Soil Management: Challenges and Perspectives

Dear Colleagues,

Today, environmental disruptions are brought about by human activities, rapid population growth, exhaustive overuse of natural resources and impairment of biodiversity. Excessive nutrients have been released from croplands into groundwater as a result of high application rates of mineral fertilizers. The lack of nutrients in agriculture could be caused by leaching to the groundwater or emissions to the atmosphere. Consequently, this poses a concern for environmental health since it can lower soil fertility, hasten soil acidification, lead to the eutrophication of water bodies, raise farmers' fertilizer expenses, increase greenhouse gase emissions and decrease the productivity of crops.

The application of biochar to agricultural soils plays an affective role not only in sustaining nutrient sources in deficient soils, but also as an effective porous substance with a well-developed specific surface area, which is important for soil moisture content or soil remediation issues. Therefore, biochar application as a soil amendment is regarded as a promising method of agricultural practice with aim of improving soil productivity and plant growth with the lowest environmental adverse effects. A deeper understanding of the biochar–soil–crop relationship could provide a more clear role of soil management in terms of sustainable agriculture and environmental benefits.

This Special Issue focuses on the assessment of the potential role of biochar application in treating problematic soils, and its impact on soil and crop quality and productivity from multiple aspects such as plant growth, grain yield, soil pollution, soil fertility, soil moisture, soil aggregation, greenhouse gas emission, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration and nutrient leaching. Both laboratory and field experiments are welcome. We therefore encourage the submission of case studies, meta-analysis and reviews that are relevant to the scope of this Special Issue.

Dr. Mohammad Ghorbani
Dr. Elnaz Amirahmadi
Guest Editors

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• biochar
• biochar production
• feedstock
• pyrolysis
• biochar characteristics
• biochar–soil interaction
• soil amendment
• nutrient cycling
• soil carbon management
• crop yield
• greenhouse gas emission
• soil fertility
• soil remediation
• soil alkalinization
• soil moisture
• heavy metal control
• nutrient leaching