Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Chemosphere
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/chemosphere

Co-composted biochar derived from rice straw and sugarcane bagasse

improved soil properties, carbon balance, and zucchini growth in a sandy
soil: A trial for enhancing the health of low fertile arid soils
Ihab M. Farid a, Hanan S. Siam b, Mohamed H.H. Abbas a, Ibrahim Mohamed a,
Safaa A. Mahmoud b, Mona Tolba a, b, Hassan H. Abbas a, Xing Yang c, d, Vasileios Antoniadis e,
Jörg Rinklebe c, f, Sabry M. Shaheen c, g, h, *
a
Soils and Water Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Egypt
b
Plant Nutrition Department, National Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt
c
University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water- and Waste-Management, Laboratory of Soil- and
Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany
d
Biochar Engineering Technology Research Center of Guangdong Province, School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Foshan University, Foshan, Guangdong,
528000, China
e
Department of Agriculture Crop Production and Rural Environment, University of Thessaly, Greece
f
Department of Environment, Energy and Geoinformatics, Sejong University, Seoul, 05006, Republic of Korea
g
King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Meteorology, Environment, and Arid Land Agriculture, Department of Arid Land Agriculture, 21589 Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
h
University of Kafrelsheikh, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Soil and Water Sciences, 33516, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt

H I G H L I G H T S G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T

• Carbon loss was higher during pyrolys­

ing than composting rice and sugarcane
waste.
• Co-composted rice straw biochar (RSCB)
showed a positive soil C balance.
• All amendments improved soil health
and zucchini growth parameters.
• An integrated two-way ecological model
data was introduced for the first time.
• This model showed that RSCB is a
promising amendment for low fertile
arid soils.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Handling Editor: Daniel CW Tsang Sustainable management of low fertile arid soils using carbon-rich organic amendments such as biochar and
compost is of great concern from both agricultural and environmental points of view. The impact of pyrolysis,
Keywords: composting, and co-composting processes of different feedstocks on carbon loss and emissions, soil properties,
Rice and sugarcane feedstocks and plant growth in arid soils with low organic matter content has not been sufficiently explored yet. Conse­
Pyrolysis and co-composting
quently, the aim of this work was to 1) investigate the effects of the pyrolysis, composting, and co-composting
Carbon loss and emission
processes on the properties of the produced biochar, compost, and co-composted biochar from rice straw (RS)
Soil health
Safe food and sugarcane bagasse (SB), and 2) examine the impact of addition of RB biochar (RSB), SB biochar (SBB), RS
compost (RSC), SB compost (SBC), co-composted RS biochar (RSCB), and co-composted SB biochar (SBCB) at an

* Corresponding author. University of Wuppertal, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Institute of Foundation Engineering, Water- and Waste-
Management, Laboratory of Soil- and Groundwater-Management, Pauluskirchstraße 7, 42285, Wuppertal, Germany.
E-mail address: shaheen@uni-wuppertal.de (S.M. Shaheen).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133389
Received 4 September 2021; Received in revised form 9 December 2021; Accepted 19 December 2021
Available online 22 December 2021
0045-6535/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

application dose of 10 ton/hectare on soil properties, carbon emission, and growth of zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) in
a sandy arid soil. Carbon loss (kg C kg− 1 feedstock) was significantly (P < 0.05) lower during the preparation of
the compost (90.36 in RSC, 220.00 in SBC) and co-composted-biochar (146.35 in RSCB, 125.20 in SBCB) than in
biochar (176.5 in RSB, 305.6 in SBB). The C/N ratios of the compost and co-composted biochar (11–28.5) were
narrower than the corresponding values of biochars (48–90). All amendments increased significantly soil organic
carbon content (2.5 in RSC to 5.5 g kg− 1 in RSCB), as compared to the non-amended control (1.2 g kg− 1). All
amendments, particularly RSCB, increased significantly (P < 0.05) the zucchini seed vigor index, dry weight,
total chlorophyll content, and root and shoot length, as compared to the control. Moreover, RSCB was the only
amendment that showed a positive soil carbon balance. The modified integrated two-way ecological model data
also indicated that the co-composted biochar, particularly RSCB, is a promising amendment to improve soil
quality and plant growth in sandy arid soils. However, those data should be verified under field conditions.

1. Introduction The positive impacts of amending degraded soils with the mono-
application of composts or biochars in order to improve their charac­
Safe recycling of organic biowastes for the reclamation and sus­ teristics have been extensively studied and reviewed (Jiang et al., 2021;
tainable management of degraded soils is of great interest from an agro- Zahra et al., 2021; Shaheen et al., 2022). However, the co-application of
environmental point of view and may help in achieving the United compost and biochar in the form of composted biochar and its impact on
Nations-Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) (Shaheen et al., the properties, nutrients availability, gas emissions, and plant growth in
2022). Such wastes can be transformed into valuable products to be used low fertile arid sandy soils has not yet been studied. Also, little effort has
for supporting plant growth and productivity while lessening the been put in assessing their benefits to soils and plants versus their po­
dependence on inorganic fertilizers (Bass et al., 2016). Unlike agro­ tential negative impacts concerning C-emissions (during their produc­
chemicals, which may deteriorate soil biodiversity and affect negatively tion and after soil application). For example, Bassouny and Abbas
the sustainability of agriculture (Abdelhafez et al., 2021A; Ganguly (2019) presented their pyramid model to estimate the efficiency of these
et al., 2021), organic products are safe (Ramakrishnan et al., 2021) and amendments; however, they placed equal weights on components of
have prolong positive impacts on soil and its fertility (El-Naggar et al., crop productivity, soil hydro-physical and environmental indicators. In
2019a, 2019b; Farkas et al., 2020; Korai et al., 2021). this study we developed an improved model to evaluate the effects of
One of the promising organic amendments that are widely used to organic amendments application to soils. This model weighs all out­
enhance soil health (He et al., 2021) and quality is biochar (Alkharab­ comes of organic amendments on plant and soil and also considers C
sheh et al., 2021; Bolan et al., 2021; Shaheen et al., 2022). Biochar can emissions from these products (during processing and after soil appli­
effectively increase plant growth and productivity (Mosa et al., 2018; cation) to (1) calculate the carbon balance in order to assess if C emis­
Korai et al., 2021; Rodrigues et al., 2021), even under the stressful sions increase when using these amendments or C sequestration in
conditions of salt-affected soils (Moradi et al., 2019) through osmotic plants by photosynthesis dominates, and (2) incorporate these weights
adjustment of the grown plants (Kanwal, 2018). Moreover, biochar in­ via the improved ecological efficiency model to determine how safe and
creases soil microbial and enzymes activity (Zhang et al., 2020; Ali et al., beneficial these amends are. Different feedstocks were used in this study.
2020; Pan et al., 2021; Wen et al., 2021) and can sorb toxic elements in These sources vary in their elemental composition and lignin contents
contaminated soil (Palansooriya et al., 2020; Bolan et al., 2021) and (Sun et al., 2014). In this concern, biochar rich in lignin is superior to
water (Shaheen et al., 2019; Chen et al., 2022), hence reducing their other biochars (Li et al., 2014).
mobilization and bioavailability (Abdelhafez et al., 2014; Mohamed Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo L.) was selected as a test plant in this study
et al., 2018; Gautam et al., 2021; Sun et al., 2021; Yang et al., 2021, to assess its germination and growth performance when grown in a
2022). This carbon-rich product persists longer in soil compared to other sandy low fertile arid soil amended with the investigated organic
non-charred organic amendments (Abdelhafez et al., 2014) and there­ amendments. This is a fast-growing summer squash crop that can be
fore its implications may last for longer periods (Wang et al., 2021). grown successfully in nearly all climates (Sinnamon, 2010), particularly
However, massive amounts of C may be emitted through the pyrolysis within soils of the arid region which are characterized by low organic
process during the production of biochar (Abdelhafez et al., 2021B) and matter content, limited water resources, and hot weather conditions
these emissions can increase the global warming concerns (Awasthi (Amin and Eissa, 2017; Almazroui et al., 2019). Specifically, we antic­
et al., 2020). Thus, composted organic materials are sometimes more ipate that amending a poor fertile soil with compost (a highly degrad­
preferable than the charred materials in improving soil fertility and crop able organic amendment) is more beneficial than applying biochar alone
performance (Manirakiza and Şeker, 2020; Shaheen et al., 2022). In (a relatively stable one) for improving soil characteristics and plant
context, the process of composting organic wastes is an economically growth on the short term (Hypothesis 1); yet, the ecological threats
acceptable process for recycling organic wastes (Li et al., 2020; Zhang corresponding to C losses in air during feedstock processing and after
et al., 2022). However, compost can be rapidly decomposed in soil their soil application could be higher in case of compost compared to
depending on the quality of composting process, while it emits consid­ biochar (Hypothesis 2). The overall efficiency (reflecting three aspects:
erable amounts of C within a short period (Abdelhafez et al., 2018; improvement in soil characteristics, enhancement in plant growth pa­
Zhang et al., 2022); this may be an alarming situation concerning global rameters and reduction of C losses) might be higher for compost over
warming (Almazroui et al., 2020). Also, the dissolved organic fraction is biochar on the short term; however, the combination of these two
higher in compost than in biochar which is consumed rapidly when amendments can bring the efficiency to a new level which is higher than
introduced in a depleted soil. Therefore, mixing biochar with compost the corresponding ones of either compost or biochar when applied alone
might be more beneficial to plant growth and soil fertility (Antonangelo (Hypothesis 3).
et al., 2021; Kang et al., 2021; Farid et al., 2022) than the individual This study aims at investigating the impact of amending a light-
constituents when applied separately (Debode et al., 2020). Such textured soil of low fertility with either biochar or compost and their
co-composted biochar can effectively improve soil health (Yuan et al., combination (thereafter called “co-composted biochar”) as possible
2017), even in soils severely contaminated with toxic elements (Anto­ amendments to increase the germination and growth parameters of
nangelo et al., 2021). Moreover, biochar increases ammonium nitrogen zucchini (root and shoot length, plant dry weight (DW) and total chlo­
recovery from compost (Zhang et al., 2019) and also helps in mitigating rophyll in leaves). Also, the implications of these amendments on soil
the emissions of greenhouse gases (Agegnehu et al., 2016). physico-chemical characteristics (soil pH, EC, soil water holding

2
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

capacity and residual organic carbon) were a matter of concern. This is a 15-cm thick and contained feedstock (with and without biochar) mixed
short term experiment conducted under controlled conditions to analyze at 15% w/w with farmyard manure, followed by a thin layer of mineral
all potential characteristics associated with the recycling of these fertilizers (approximately 3 cm), comprising 15 kg NH4SO4 (20.6 g N
organic wastes in soil to be used as safe additives to improve soil pro­ kg− 1), 3 kg CaH2PO4 (6.7 g P kg− 1), 15 kg calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
ductivity, and also to calculate precisely the C losses (during their pro­ per megagram of composted materials. More layers of feedstock mate­
cessing and after soil application) and the assimilated C in plant by rials and mineral fertilizers were piled successfully, forming a
photosynthesis, as affected by the added organic amendments. Thus, we cone-shaped windrow (about 1-m high).
believe that the results obtained herein are of high priority for the sus­ These piles were moistened with tap water and moisture content was
tainable management of environmental resources. kept at approximately 50% of their weight for 145 days until maturity.
Throughout this period, piles were mixed twice a month by rolling on
2. Materials and Methods floor to improve aeration and homogeneity. Photographs of biochar,
compost and co-compost produced from rice straw (RS) and sugarcane
2.1. Collection and characterization of the studied soil (SC) are presented in the supplementary material (Fig S2).

Surface soil samples (0–20 cm) were collected from the Experimental 2.4. Greenhouse pot experiment
Farm of the Research and Production Station, El-Nobaria, Behara
Governorate, Agricultural Research Center, Egypt (latitude of 30◦ 30ʹ A pilot experiment was then conducted to evaluate the effects of the
1.4′′ N and longitude of 30◦ 19ʹ 10.9′′ E). The samples were air dried, produced organic amendments on the germination and growth of
mixed together to make one composite sample, crashed and sieved to zucchini (Cucurbite pepo cultivar Jamila F1) within a short time period of
pass through a 2-mm sieve. The soil was characterized according to the 15 days after application in the greenhouse of the National Research
standard methods of Sparks et al. (1996). The soil had a pH of 7.7, a Center. During this short time period, the degradation rate of compost is
sandy texture (sand = 98%), and very poor content in macronutrients thought to be high in arid soils and would reach an almost constant rate
and organic matter (0.30%; Table S1; Farid et al., 2022). after 2–3 days following soil application according to Abdelhafez et al.
(2018). On the other hand, biochar may last longer in soil. In this
2.2. Collection of rice straw and sugarcane bagasse biowastes experiment, 3 seeds of zucchini were planted in plastic pots (15 cm
diameter × 5 cm height) packed with 200 g of the investigated sandy
Rice straw was collected from private fields in the El-Dakahlia soil. Soil in each pot was mixed thoroughly with either of the following
Governorate, North Egypt. Sugarcane bagasse was obtained from juice amendments at a rate of 0.85 g per pot (4.25 g kg− 1, equivalent to 10 Mg
shops to be used as feedstock for preparation of biochars, composts and per hectare), i.e. biochars (B), composts, (C) co-composted biochars
co-composted biochars. These raw materials were washed several times (CB), produced from either rice straw (RS) or sugar cane (SC). This level
with tap water, air dried, and chopped into small sized particles. Some of application is the recommended dose for biochar application to
chemical characteristics of these biowastes are presented in Fig. 2. improve plant photosynthetic rates (Gao et al., 2021). A non-amended
control soil (control) was also included, and this brought the total
2.3. Production of biochar, compost, and co-composted biochar number of treatments to 7 (for more details, see Table 1). Treatments
were conducted in triplicates and all pots were then arranged in a ran­
The portions (%) of each material in the produced biochar, compost, domized complete block design and incubated in a growth chamber at
and co-composted biochar are presented in Table 1. The rice straw and 25 ◦ C under 12 h light/dark cycle and 70% humidity for 2 weeks.
sugarcane bagasse residues were pyrolyzed to produce biochar in a After five days of incubation, the rate of seed germination was
pyrolysis unit in New Borg El Arab City (SRTA-City, 21934), Alexandria, determined according to Close and Wilson (2002), as follows:
Egypt. During this process, raw rice straw and sugarcane bagasse were
Number ​ of ​ germinated ​ seeds
placed on a stainless steel net in a well-sealed barrel of the pyrolysis unit Germination ​ percentage ​ = ​ × 100
(Supplementary Materials; Fig S1). The plant materials were subjected Total ​ number ​ of ​ seeds
Eq 1
to slow pyrolysis in partial absence of oxygen and the temperature was
raised gradually to reach 500 ◦ C for 5 h to produce rice straw biochar At the end of the period of 15 days, whole plants were taken from
(RSB) and for 2 h for the production of sugarcane bagasse biochar (SBB). each pot and placed on a plastic sieve, washed thoroughly with tap
Subsequently, biochars were left to cool and the obtained yields were water to remove dirt and then with deionized water and the following
determined according to Lynch and Joseph (2010) as a percentage from growth/physiology parameters were assessed: plant height, root length,
the raw material (feedstock). These biochars were also ground in a and total chlorophyll content. Seedling vigor index (SVI) was also
mortar and passed through a 0.5-mm sieve. Two types of composts were calculated as per Ibrahim et al. (2016):
prepared from each of the plant residues, i.e. rice straw and sugarcane
seed ​ emergence(%) ×seedlinglength​ (cm)
bagasse, one with biochar (added at 10% by weight) and the other Seedling​ vigor ​ index​ (SVI) ​ = ​
100
without biochar. The composting materials were organized in the form
Eq.2
of piles on the ground of the experimental greenhouse of the National
Research Centre, Dokki, Giza, during the winter season of 2019 (tem­ Also, soil samples were collected from the rhizosphere of plants in
perature ranging between 15 ◦ C and 25 ◦ C). The first layer of piles was each pot for further analyses.

Table 1
Experimental treatments and the portion (%) of each material in the produced biochar, compost, and co-composted biochar.
Abbreviation Treatment Rice straw Sugarcane bagasse Farmyard manure Mineral fertilizer Biochar

C Control – – – – –
RSB Rice straw biochar 100 – – – –
SBB Sugarcane bagasse biochar – 100 – – –
RSC Rice straw compost 80 – 15 5 –
SBC Sugarcane bagasse compost – 80 15 5 –
RSCB Co-composted rice straw biochar 70 – 15 5 10
SBCB Co-composted sugarcane bagasse biochar – 70 15 5 10

3
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

2.5. Analyses of soil, amendments, and plants references in the above calculations. Calculated weighted averages
(CWA) were then considered using the formula shown below to calcu­
After recording the dry weight, a plant portion (equivalent to 0.4 g of late the two-way ecological model (TWEM):
oven-dried material) underwent wet digestion using a mixture of ∑
concentrated sulfuric (H2SO4) and perchloric (HClO4) acids at a rate of TWEM = Wtk × Sk Eq 3
4:1, according to Gotteni et al. (1982). Total N in plant digests was then
determined by macro-Kjeldhal apparatus. Total phosphorus was 3. Results and discussion
extracted as per Olsen (1954), and measured colourimitrically by
Spectrophotometer UV–Vis Double Beam (Model UVD-3500) according 3.1. Characteristics of the investigated organic amendments
to the method of Murphy and Riley (1962). Total potassium content in
plant digest was estimated by flame photometer (model Jenway PFP7). 3.1.1. Yield of biochar, compost, and co-composted biochar and the carbon
Total chlorophyll was measured in fresh leaves using a chlorophyll losses during production
content meter (CCM-200). Carbon assimilated by the grown plants Biochar yield produced from the pyrolysis of rice straw (RS) was only
through photosynthesis was estimated using the Walkely and Black 38% of its feedstock (Fig. 1). This amount was comparable with the RSB
method. yield produced by Park et al. (2014) at 500 ◦ C, which was only 39% of its
Specific physicochemical characteristics of biochars, composts and fresh material. This indicates that 176.54 kg of C were lost in air during
co-composted biochar were determined and analyzed as follows: the pyrolysis process of 1 Mg of rice straw, which accounts for 58.3% of
Organic matter content was determined using the Walkley-Black its total carbon content. Nevertheless, such a loss was lower than the
method (Black, 1965). Total content of nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) value recorded from the pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse, where the
content was determined using dry combustion technique by thermo produced biochar equaled only 25% of the fresh residue weight. How­
scientific flash 2000 elemental analyzer. Phosphorus content was ever, a comparable sugarcane bagasse biochar yield was recorded by
extracted by ammonium molybdate-ascorbic acid according to the Olsen Inyang et al. (2010), which was approximately 23% of the fresh feed­
method, then determined colourimetrically using spectrophotometer. stock. Hence, the traditional pyrolysis processes that were used to pro­
Amendments pH was determined using a pH meter (Jenway 3505 duce biochars from plant residues probably represent a potential
pH/mV/Temperature Mater) in a suspension of 1:10 w:v. Amendments environmental threat because these processes increase the emissions of
electrical conductivity (EC) was determined using an EC meter (Jance the greenhouse gases (particularly of carbon), unless emitted gases are
EC model 3137) in the filtrate of the organic suspensions prepared at a captured during pyrolysis, as suggested by Abdelhafez et al. (2021B).
rate of 1:10. Micronutrients were determined in the investigated Нigher pyrolysis temperature and longer pyrolysis duration are
amendments by Inductivity Coupled Plasma (Thermo Scientific™ known to affect negatively the biochar yield (Ahmed et al., 2016); yet,
iCAP™ 7000 Plus Series ICP-OES) after being digested using HNO3 RS biochar (RSB) yield which underwent pyrolysis for a longer time
(69%) and H2O2 (30%) in a microwave digestion apparatus (model period (5 h) seemed to be higher than the SBB yield which underwent
Milestone MLS 1200 Mega). pyrolysis for only 2 h. This is probably because rice straw residues are
The soil rhizosphere characteristics were determined according to rich in lignin (Minu et al., 2012; Abraham et al., 2016) that slows down
Sparks et al. (1996) after plant harvest as follows: soil pH and EC in 1:2.5 the pyrolysis process (Ghysels et al., 2019). Moreover, CO2 is easily
soil:water suspension. Residual organic carbon was measured by the emitted during the pyrolysis of SBB, because it is bound weakly onto the
Walkley-Black method. Water holding capacity of the soil gravimetri­ surfaces of biochar through physisorption (Creamer et al., 2014). The
cally after being saturated with deionized water then oven dried at obtained yields attained during composting of organic materials are
105 ◦ C.

2.6. Calculations and statistical analysis

All data were statistically analyzed using ANOVA in a completely

randomized design with three replicates per treatment, using analysis of
variance technique by means of CoStat (Version 6.303, CoHort, USA,
1998–2004). Graphs were plotted using Sigma Plot 10.
Carbon loss via the processing of organic wastes was calculated as
the difference between the total carbon content per ton (or megagram)
of the feedstocks and the total carbon in the resultant yield (after py­
rolysis or composting).
To evaluate the overall efficiency of the used organic amendments as
soil conditioners and fertilizers to improve soil and plant characteristics,
a two-way ecological model (TWEM) was used. In this model,
improvement in plant growth parameters and soil characteristics (soil
pH, EC, ROC, WHC, seed germination %, SIV, root length, shoot height
and plant dry weights) owing to organic applications were weighed via
the Principle Component Analyses (PCA). Also, the carbon cycle was
calculated for each treatment as the difference between C sequestered in
plants minus C lost through emissions from both the pyrolysis process
and from the soil during plant growth. The weight of the carbon cycle
was estimated by 0.25 in the proposed 2-way ecological model (com­
parable to the percentage of C in plant dry matter), while the weights of
plant and soil parameters as affected by organic matter applications
were re-set to make their summation equal to 0.75. A measuring scale
(Sk) was also organized (ranging from 0 to 100) for each component k, Fig. 1. Yield of the organic products (a) and the carbon losses (b) (mean ± SD)
where the highest desirable measures donate the highest scores, taking during their production. All abbreviations are included in Table 1. Similar
into account the values of the non-amended control treatment as letters indicate no significant variations among treatments (P < 0.05).

4
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

Fig. 2. Changes of pH, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and C/N ratio in the studied amendments (mean ± SD). All abbreviations are included in
Table 1. Similar letters indicate no significant variations among treatments (P < 0.05).

expected to be higher than those during pyrolysis which accounted for cations via sorption on their surfaces (Akhtar et al., 2015). Generally,
approximately 82% for RSC and 90% for SBC. As mentioned above biochars and organic products of alkaline pH are suitable as amend­
(section 2.6), the carbon loss via the processing of organic wastes was ments for acid soils (Farkas et al., 2020), because high pH inhibits the
calculated and was found significantly lower than the emissions of degradation of easily decomposable organic fractions (Dendooven et al.,
carbon during the pyrolysis process. In the case of co-composted bio­ 2010; Zhang et al., 2022), which are indicators of improved soil quality
chars, the obtained yields were a slightly lower than those obtained via (Bongiorno et al., 2019). Also, increasing soil pH may diminish nutrient
composting. The C losses during the production of the organic materials availability in soil, and hence reduce their uptake by growing plants
could be arranged in the following descending order: biochar > compost (Rengel, 2011) in addition to the negative effects of increasing soil pH
> co-composted biochar. (above pH 7) on soil microbial activities (Lehman et al., 2011; Zhang
It is clear that the pyrolysis process would result in higher C loss than et al., 2022). These may negatively affect soil health (Das and Varma,
the composting process due to the nature of the thermal treatment; 2010).
however, this C loss and consequent environmental impact is compen­ In case of total organic carbon (TOC), SBB contained significantly
sated by the quality characteristics of the produced product, i.e., larger higher TOC content than the feedstock (Fig. 2c), while in the case of rice
and active surface areas and much longer residence time in treated soil. straw no further significant variations in TOC were noticed between the
Moreover, these results also underline the difference between pyrolysis produced biochar and the feedstock. Generally, the percentage of aro­
and composting for their environmental impact, e,g., C emissions, be­ matic hydrocarbons and other more resistant C compounds increased in
sides their distinct influence on the final product. However, this finding the organic products during the pyrolysis process (Angın and Şensöz,
also points out to the importance of selecting the agro-wastes valoriza­ 2014). Total carbon contents in co-composted biochars were signifi­
tion method (pyrolysis or composting) based on the targeted purpose cantly lower than the corresponding ones in biochars. On the other
and application field; i.e., it is preferable to compost wastes that are hand, the least TOC contents were observed in composts. This might
easily compostable and to limit the pyrolysis process to non-easily have occurred because composting speeds up the degradation of the
compostable residues, such as olive mill residues, and to restrict bio­ more resistant organic components in the presence of suitable surfac­
char use in water treatment and soil decontamination. Nevertheless, co- tants (Said-Pullicino et al., 2007; Li et al., 2021). Generally, the SC
composting with biochar is also recommended when obtaining a C amendments exhibited significantly higher TOC than the RS
product with higher residence time than compost. amendments.
Nitrogen content increased significantly in composts and composted
3.1.2. pH, total organic C and N, and C/N ratio of biochar, compost, and biochars produced from either RS or SC versus their feedstock, and,
co-composted biochar accordingly, these organic amendments exhibited the least C/N ratios
The produced biochars (6.7–9.5), composts (6.9–7.5) and co- (Fig. 2). On the other hand, N content in biochar seemed to be compa­
composted biochars (6.6–7.3) were of apparently higher pH values, rable with, or slightly higher than, its content in the feedstock. Biochars
than their feedstock (3.65 for SC and 6.95 for RS; Fig. 2a). In this exhibited significantly higher C/N ratio than the other organic products.
concern, the produced RSB had the highest pH values (9.5), while It can, therefore, be deduced that considerable losses of N occurred
composts (6.9–7.5) and co-composted biochars (6.6–7.3) were of during the pyrolysis process, simultaneously with C losses, which is
significantly lower pH values. This probably occurred because biochars expected to occur due to the thermal treatment. However, it is necessary
have high capability to retain Na and probably other salt-forming that other future studies should look into C and N transformations

5
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

during the pyrolysis and link them to the process conditions (time, stimulated root exudates to effectively liberate organic compounds even
temperature). from their protective associations with minerals (Keiluweit et al., 2015);
hence, the degradation rate of organic amendments probably increased
in the presence of biochar. On the other hand, the easily decomposable
3.2. Impact of biochar, compost, and co-composted biochar on soil organic matter, as in the case of biochar, stimulated soil biota to build up
characteristics more resistant soil organic matter (Abdelhafez et al., 2018). Thus, the
combination between these two amendments may guarantee a buildup
No significant variations were detected in soil water holding capacity of more resistant soil organic matter constituents.
among treatments (Fig. 3). In spite of the well-known capabilities of
these organic amendments to increase soil water holding capacity
(Bassouny and Abbas, 2019); yet this may be a long-term effect of 3.3. Impact of biochar, compost and co-composted biochar on
frequent application. For example, biochars contain hydrophilic and germination and growth of zucchini plants
hydrophobic (alkyl) groups (Kinney et al., 2012; Mao et al., 2019) and
the hydrophobic alkyl groups are recalcitrant organic C components (Yu All studied growth parameters were improved significantly owing to
et al., 2015), not easily degradable. Also, variations in soil pH owing to the application of the investigated organic materials (Fig. 4), signifying
organic applications are considered as indicators of soil health. It was the importance of organic amendments for plants, even during the early
found that these values did not vary significantly among treatments, stages of their growth. Increases in seed germination were comparable
irrespective of the alkaline nature of some of the used organic amend­ among the investigated organic treatments while they exceeded that of
ments. Probably, the organic amendments buffered the pH of the soil the control. The corresponding increases in seed vigor index followed
during this short-time period (Latifah et al., 2018; Palanivell et al., the descending order of RSCB > SBB > RSB ≈ RSC SBC ≈ SBCB> control.
2020), particularly biochars which are carbon-rich products and could It is noteworthy that the rate of seed germination and vigor index are
retain temporarily basic cations via their functional groups. probably the main physiological attributes of seed quality (Leão-Araújo
On the other hand, significant increases occurred in both soil EC and et al., 2017; Shi et al., 2020). In particular, seed vigor designates the
residual organic carbon owing to the application the organic amend­ rapid and uniform emergence of seeds to become normal seedlings
ments. Probably, salts released upon the degradation of the organic (Wang et al., 2019), and, may, therefore, be used to evaluate the suit­
amendments in soluble forms raised soil salinity. In this context, ability of the conditions of growth needed to attain high seed perfor­
compost treatments exhibited lower residual organic carbon than bio­ mance (Szareski et al., 2018). It can therefore be deduced that the
chars. This is because compost was rich in easily decomposable organic applied organic amendments improve considerably the conditions of
matter (Abdelhafez et al., 2018), while biochar contained lower contents seed germination, maybe due to the increased soil moisture retention
of easily decomposable organic fractions (Bruun et al., 2011). It is worth (Fig. 3) which is needed for seed germination.
noting that the highest increases in residual organic carbon were Similar findings to the above results were obtained for root length. It
detectable in soils amended with co-composted biochars. Increasing soil seems that rice straw amendments resulted in significantly higher in­
residual organic carbon might also indicate a buildup process of organic creases in root length versus root length in sugarcane bagasse. In
matter in soil. Thus, our explanation is that the application of biochar particular, compost recorded significantly lower increases in root

Fig. 3. Changes of pH, eletrical conductivity (EC), water holding capacity (WHC), and residual organin carbon (ROC) in the untreated (control) and the biochars,
composts and cocomposted biochars treated soils (mean ± SD). All abbreviations are included in Table 1. Similar letters indicate no significant variations among
treatments (P < 0.05).

6
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

Fig. 4. Growth parameters (mean ± SD) of zucchini seedlings grown in the untreated (control) and the biochars, composts and cocomposted biochars treated soils
(mean ± SD). All abbreviations are included in Table 1. Similar letters indicate no significant variations among treatments (P < 0.05). DW = dry weight.

elongation than the biochar or co-composted biochar treatments. A availability and uptake as also reported by Manirakiza and Şeker (2020);
simple explanation for this finding is that compost enriched soil with and Farid et al. (2022).
nutrients because of its relatively high degradation rate; hence plants The higher positive effects of RSCB on plant growth than RSB, RSC
found nutrients nearby their roots while biochar and co-composted and SBC might be explained by the associated improvements of soil
biochar were of relatively low degradation rate; thus this stimulated properties, nutrients content, and soil fertility compared to the indi­
root elongation for search of soluble nutrients (Farid et al., 2022). vidual constituents applied separately (Antonangelo et al., 2021; Kang
In the case of plant height, chlorophyll content and plant dry weight, et al., 2021; Yuan et al., 2017; Debode et al., 2020; Farid et al., 2022).
these parameters were the highest in the soil mixed with the co-
composted biochar compared to the application of either of biochar or 3.4. Ecological markers for estimating the overall efficiency of biochar,
compost solely. Improvement in plant growth parameters owing to the compost and co-composted biochar
application of biochar were higher than those attained for compost
application. Therefore, our results seem to nullify the first hypothesis. To evaluate the ecological impact of using the investigated organic
The obtained results agree with the findings of Amirn and Eissa (2017) amendments on soils and plants grown thereon, carbon emissions from
and Farid et al. (2022), who indicated that biochar application improved these residues were assessed. These emissions not only increase global
zucchini grown in a calcareous sandy soil. Moreover, Abd El-Mageed warming concerns, but also affect negatively the public health (Were
et al. (2021) and Farid et al. (2022) verified that co-composted bio­ et al., 2019; Nguyen et al., 2021; Tennison et al., 2021). A multivariate
char was more effective than biochar in improving crop productivity. analysis trial was therefore introduced towards this aim. In this model,
The increases that occurred in plant growth may be related to the we evaluated the weights of each component (of soil and plant) by the
concurrent improvement that occurred in soil characteristics owing to using principal component analysis (PCA). The emissions of C were
the organic application (Fig. 3) besides the increases that took place in considered to be those produced during the composting process of the
available nutrients which were released upon organic matter degrada­ organic residues and also during the pyrolysis process of biochar.
tion from biochar, compost and their mixtures (Agegnehu et al., 2015), Moreover, C losses from soil during plantation and the sequestered C in
especially in soils of poor fertility which suffer from low nutrient plants through assimilation via photosynthesis were also taken into

7
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

account to explore the carbon cycle associated with the usage of these SBC, respectively). These results seem to support the Third Hypothesis,
amendments. which confirms that the overall efficiency of co-composted biochars is
Carbon assimilated by the grown plants through photosynthesis did higher than those of either the compost or biochar.
not vary significantly among treatments (Fig. 5a). Yet, the carbon cycle,
calculated as C sequestered in plants minus C lost through emissions 4. Conclusions, economic feasibility, and future prospects
from each of the pyrolysis process and soil plantation, recorded positive
values only for the co-composted biochar treatments (RSCB and SBCB) Amending a light-textured low-fertile soil with compost, biochar and
as well as for the non-amended control treatment; all other treatments composted biochar enhanced significantly plant growth parameters and
exhibited negative values (Fig. 5b). This probably indicates that C inputs also improved soil characteristics in our 15-day study: Compost appli­
through compost and biochar pyrolysis possess a global warming cation exhibited a narrower C:N ratio than biochar; thus, this amend­
concern because of their implications on increasing emissions of ment improved chlorophyll content in plants beyond that attained for
greenhouse gases (GHGs), at least during the early stage of plant growth. biochar application alone. On the other hand, biochars, as C-rich
Moreover, the values of C balance in soil seemed to be less negative due products, exhibited higher residual organic C than composts; and also
to RSC application compared to that of RSB application, while in case of recorded significant increases in seed vigor and root elongation over
sugarcane bagasse SBB recorded less negative values than those of SBC. compost. The benefits of both amendments were found when using co-
Further evaluations of these amendments were carried out using the composted biochars which recorded superior results on both plant and
two-way ecological model (TWEM). The weights of soil and plant soil components compared to biochar or compost when applied solely.
components were estimated using PCA (initial Eigenvalue = 60.189%). Moreover, this amendment recorded positive carbon cycle values, while
All weights were then included in the TWEM model as mentioned in the the other two amendments recorded negative values. It can therefore be
Materials and Methods section to assess all potential advantages and deduced that this amendment decreased considerably C emissions, and,
disadvantages associated with recycling organic products in soil. Results hence, lessened GHGs. Only few studies have assessed the ecological
obtained herein indicate that the highest efficiency was calculated for impact of using soil amendments in weighted equations that include
the usage of RSCB (56.69%; Fig. 5C), while the lowest efficiency was plant productivity and soil characteristics for estimating the efficiency of
recorded for the compost treatments (35.63 and 23.19% for RSC and applying soils with organic amendments; such an approach signifies the
novelty of our work. Our integrated TWEM efficiency model has thus
highlighted the superiority of co-composted biochar versus the other
two studied organic amendments as soil conditioner that improves
significantly plant growth.
We conclude that the composted biochar is recommended from agro-
environmental and economic points of view. The mono-application of
BC has a higher potential to improve soil properties and enhance plant
growth than compost; however, its economic feasibility could be limited
because of its higher cost (average price of 23 U.S.-based companies =
US$ 2860 ton− 1, as per Jirka and Tomlinson, 2015; El-Naggar et al.,
2019a) than compost (US$ 40 ton− 1, as per Jirka and Tomlinson, 2015;
El-Naggar et al., 2019b). Also, the pyrolysis process would result in
higher C loss than composting due to the nature of the thermal treat­
ment. Although compost is cheaper than biochar, it can be fast decom­
posed in soil depending on the quality of the composting process, while
it emits considerable amounts of C within a short period. Also, the dis­
solved organic fraction is higher in compost than in biochar which is
consumed rapidly when introduced in a depleted soil. Consequently,
mixing biochar with compost might be more beneficial from
agro-environmental and economic points of view, because it will reduce
the cost and thus increase the economic feasibility. Also, it will improve
soil health and plant growth and mitigate the emissions of greenhouse
gases compared to the case of the individual constituents being applied
separately. Producing these amendments from wastes such as rice straw
and/or sugarcane bagasse is also of great important from both envi­
ronmental and economic points of view, because these wastes are
available and very cheap. Moreover, the safe recycling of these wastes is
important from a waste management point of view. We recognize that,
based on these pivotal findings, organized pot and field trials are
necessary to investigate the long-term impacts of amending soils with
these organic amendments (particularly the composted biochars) on the
growth and productivity of zucchini and other different plants, and also
to investigate their environmental impacts in order to enable a more
solid conclusions. Other future studies are thus needed to closely
investigate C and N transformations during pyrolysis and link it to the
process conditions (time, temperature). Also, cost and residence time of
such organic amendments in soils should be considered in these studies.
Also, more experimental data obtained at pot and field scale should to be
Fig. 5. Carbon content in plants (a), soil carbon balance (b) and the estimated
values of the two way ecological model (c) (mean ± SD) as affected by biochars, included in future studies to verify these data and assess nutrient
composts and cocomposted biochars application. All abbreviations are included availability together with plant productivity and C and N
in Table 1. Similar letters indicate no significant variations among treatments transformations.
(P < 0.05).

8
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

Credit author statement Amin, A.A., Eissa, M.A., 2017. Biochar effects on nitrogen and phosphorus use
efficiencies of zucchini plants grown in a calcareous sandy soil. J. Soil Sci. Plant
Nutr. 17 (4), 912–921.
Ihab M. Farid: research idea, concept, supervision, writing the Angın, D., Şensöz, S., 2014. Effect of pyrolysis temperature on chemical and surface
original draft of the manuscript, correction, and editing. Hanan S. Siam: properties of biochar of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). Int. J. Phytoremediation 16,
concept, supervision, performing the experiment, investigation, anal­ 684–693.
Antonangelo, J.A., Sun, X., Zhang, H., 2021. The roles of co-composted biochar (COMBI)
ysis, and writing. Mohamed H.H. Abbas: concept, supervision, writing, in improving soil quality, crop productivity, and toxic metal amelioration.
correction, and editing. Ibrahim Mohamed: creating figures, writing, J. Environ. Manag. 277, 111443.
and corrections. Safaa A. Mahmoud: scientific and experimental Awasthi, M.K., Duan, Y., Awasthi, S.K., Liu, T., Zhang, Z., 2020. Influence of bamboo
biochar on mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and nitrogen loss during poultry
concept, close experimental guidance, analytical facilities, supervision, manure composting. Bioresour. Technol. 303, 122952.
correction and editing. Mona Tolba: performing the experiment, data Bass, A.M., Bird, M.I., Kay, G., Muirhead, B., 2016. Soil properties, greenhouse gas
collection, treatment of samples, methodology. Hassan H. Abbas: emissions and crop yield under compost, biochar and co-composted biochar in two
tropical agronomic systems. Sci. Total Environ. 550, 459–470.
accurateness of data analysis, correction, and editing. Xing Yang: Bassouny, M., Abbas, M., 2019. Role of biochar in managing the irrigation water
Creating figures and graphical abstract; editing. Vasileios Antoniadis: Requirements of maize plants: the pyramid model signifying the soil hydro-physical
review, correction, editing and proof reading. Jörg Rinklebe: review, and environmental markers. Egypt. J. Soil Sci. 59, 99–115.
Black, C.A., 1965. Methods of Soil Analysis: Part I, Physical and Mineralogical Properties.
correction, editing and proof reading. Sabry M. Shaheen: Writing, re­ American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin.
view, correction, editing and proof reading, and corresponding. Bolan, N., Hoang, S.A., Beiyuan, J., Gupta, S., Hou, D., Karakoti, A., et al., 2021.
Multifunctional applications of biochar beyond carbon storage. Int. Mater. Rev.
https://doi.org/10.1080/09506608.2021.1922047.
Declaration of competing interest
Bongiorno, G., Bünemann, E.K., Oguejiofor, C.U., Meier, J., 2019. Sensitivity of labile
carbon fractions to tillage and organic matter management and their potential as
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial comprehensive soil quality indicators across pedoclimatic conditions in Europe.
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence Ecol. Indicat. 99, 38–50.
Bruun, E.W., Hauggaard-Nielsen, H., Ibrahim, N., Egsgaard, H., et al., 2011. Influence of
the work reported in this paper. fast pyrolysis temperature on biochar labile fraction and short-term carbon loss in a
loamy soil. Biomass Bioenergy 35, 1182–1189.
Appendix A. Supplementary data Chen, H., Gao, Y., El-Naggar, A., Niazi, N.K., et al., 2022. Enhanced sorption of trivalent
antimony by chitosan-loaded biochar in aqueous solutions: characterization,
performance and mechanisms. J. Hazard Mater. 425, 127971.
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi. Close, D.C., Wilson, S.J., 2002. Provenance effects on pre-germination treatments for
org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.133389. Eucalyptus regnans and E. delegatensis seed. For. Ecol. Manag. 170, 299–305.
Creamer, A.E., Gao, B., Zhang, M., 2014. Carbon dioxide capture using biochar produced
from sugarcane bagasse and hickory wood. Chem. Eng. J. 249, 174–179.
References Das, S.K., Varma, A., 2010. Role of enzymes in maintaining soil health. In: Shukla, G.,
Varma, A. (Eds.), Soil Enzymology, Soil Biology, vol. 22. Springer, Berlin,
Abd El-Mageed, T.A., Abdelkhalik, A., Abd El-Mageed, S.A., Semida, W.M., 2021. Co- Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-14225-3_2.
composted poultry litter biochar enhanced soil quality and eggplant productivity Debode, J., Ebrahimi, N., D’Hose, T., Cremelie, P., Viaene, N., Vandecasteele, B., 2020.
under different irrigation regimes. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. 21, 1917–1933. https:// Has compost with biochar added during the process added value over biochar or
doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00490-4. compost to increase disease suppression? Appl. Soil Ecol. 153, 103571.
Abdelhafez, A.A., Abbas, M.H.H., Attia, T.M.S., 2018. Mineralization of organic carbon Dendooven, L., Alcántara-Hernández, R.J., Valenzuela-Encinas, C., Luna-Guido, M.,
and nitrogen in semi-arid soils under organic and inorganic fertilization. Environ. Perez-Guevara, F., Marsch, R., 2010. Dynamics of carbon and nitrogen in an extreme
Technol. Innovat. 9, 243–253. alkaline saline soil: a review. Soil Biol. Biochem. 42, 865–877.
Abdelhafez, A.A., Eid, K.E., El-Abeid, S.E., Abbas, M.H.H., 2021A. Application of soil El-Naggar, A., El-Naggar, A.H., Shaheen, S.M., Sarkar, B., Chang, S.X., Tsang, D.C.W.,
biofertilizers to a clayey soil contaminated with Sclerotium rolfsii can promote Rinklebe, J., Ok, Y.S., 2019a. Biochar composition-dependent impacts on soil
production, protection and nutritive status of Phaseolus vulgaris. Chemosphere 271, nutrient release, carbon mineralization, and potential environmental risk: a review.
129321. J. Environ. Manag. 241, 458–467.
Abdelhafez, A.A., Zhang, X., Zhou, L., Cai, M., Cui, N., Chen, G., Zou, G., Abbas, M.H.H., El-Naggar, A., Lee, S.S., Rinklebe, J., Farooq, M., Song, H., Sarmah, A.K., Zimmerman, A.
Kenawy, M.H.M., Ahmad, M., Alharthi, S.S., Hamed, M.H., 2021B. Eco-friendly R., Ahmad, M., Shaheen, S.M., Ok, Y.S., 2019b. Biochar application to low fertility
production of biochar via conventional pyrolysis: application of biochar and soils: a review of current status, and future prospects. Geoderma 337, 536–554.
liquefied smoke for plant productivity and seed germination. Environ. Technol. Farid, I.M., Siam, H.S., Mohamed, H.H., Abbas, M.H.H., et al., 2022. Biochar, compost
Innovat. 22, 101540. and co-composted biochar as potential fertilizers for improving NPK availability and
Abdelhafez, A.A., Li, J., Abbas, M.H.H., 2014. Feasibility of biochar manufactured from uptake by plants grown on sandy soil. Horticulturae. https://doi.org/10.3390/
organic wastes on the stabilization of heavy metals in a metal smelter contaminated xxxxx.
soil. Chemosphere 117, 66–71. Farkas, É., Feigl, V., Gruiz, K., Vaszita, E., Fekete-Kertész, I., 2020. Long-term effects of
Abraham, A., Mathew, A.K., Sindhu, R., Pandey, A., Binod, P., 2016. Potential of rice grain husk and paper fibre sludge biochar on acidic and calcareous sandy soils – a
straw for bio-refining: an overview. Bioresour. Technol. 215, 29–36. scale-up field experiment applying a complex monitoring toolkit. Sci. Total Environ.
Agegnehu, G., Bass, A.M., Nelson, P.N., Bird, M.I., 2016. Benefits of biochar, compost 731, 138988.
and biochar–compost for soil quality, maize yield and greenhouse gas emissions in a Ganguly, R.K., Mukherjee, A., Chakraborty, S.K., Verma, i.P., 2021. Chapter 2 - impact of
tropical agricultural soil. Sci. Total Environ. 543, 295–306. agrochemical application in sustainable agriculture. In: Verma, J.P. (Ed.), New and
Agegnehu, G., Bass, A.M., Nelson, P.N., Muirhead, B., Wright, G., Bird, M.I., 2015. Future Developments in Microbial Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Elsevier,
Biochar and biochar-compost as soil amendments: effects on peanut yield, soil pp. 15–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-64325-4.00002-X.
properties and greenhouse gas emissions in tropical North Queensland, Australia. Gao, Y., Shao, G., Yang, Z., Zhang, K., Lu, J., Wang, Z., Wu, S., Xu, D., 2021. Influences of
Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 213, 72–85. soil and biochar properties and amount of biochar and fertilizer on the performance
Ahmed, M.B., Zhou, J.L., Huu Hao Ngo, H.H., 2016. Insight into biochar properties and of biochar in improving plant photosynthetic rate: a meta-analysis. Eur. J. Agron.
its cost analysis. Biomass Bioenergy 4, 76–86. 130, 126345.
Akhtar, S.S., Andersen, M.N., Liu, F., 2015. Biochar mitigates salinity stress in potato. Gautam, R.K., Goswami, M., Mishra, R.K., Chaturvedi, P., 2021. Biochar for remediation
J. Agron. Crop Sci. 201, 368–378. of agrochemicals and synthetic organic dyes from environmental samples: a review.
Ali, A., Shaheen, S.M., Guo, D., Li, Y., Xiao, R., Wahid, F., Azeem, M., Sohail, S., Chemosphere 272, 129917.
Zhang, T., Rinklebe, J., Li, R., Zhang, Z., 2020. Apricot shell- and apple tree-derived Ghysels, S., Ronsse, F., Dickinson, D., Prins, W., 2019. Production and characterization of
biochar affect the fractionation and bioavailability of Zn and Cd as well as the slow pyrolysis biochar from lignin-rich digested stillage from lignocellulosic ethanol
microbial activity in smelter contaminated soil. Environ. Pollut. 264, 114773. production. Biomass Bioenergy 122, 349–360.
Alkharabsheh, H.M., Seleiman, M.F., Battaglia, M.L., 2021. Biochar and its broad impacts Gotteni, A., Verloo, L., Camerlynch, G., 1982. Chemical Analysis of Soil Lap of Analytical
in soil quality and fertility, nutrient leaching and crop productivity: a review. Agron and Agro Chemistry. state Univ. Ghent, Belgium.
11 (5), 993. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050993. He, M., Xiong, X., Wang, L., Hou, D., Bolan, N.S., Ok, Y.S., Rinklebe, J., Tsang, D., 2021.
Almazroui, M., Islam, M.N., Saeed, S., et al., 2020. Future changes in climate over the A critical review on performance indicators for evaluating soil biota and soil health
arabian peninsula based on CMIP6 multimodel simulations. Earth Syst Environ 4, of biochar-amended soils. J. Hazard Mater. 414, 125378.
611–630. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-020-00183-5. Ibrahim, M.E.H., Zhu, X., Zhou, G., Abidallhaa, E., 2016. Effects of nitrogen on seedling
Almazroui, M., Şen, Z., Mohorji, A.M., et al., 2019. Impacts of climate change on water growth of wheat varieties under salt stress. J. Agric. Sci. 8, 131–146.
engineering structures in arid regions: case studies in Turkey and Saudi arabia. Earth Inyang, M., Gao, B., Pullammanappallil, P., Ding, W., Zimmerman, A.R., 2010. Biochar
Syst Environ 3, 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-018-0082-6. from anaerobically digested sugarcane bagasse. Bioresour. Technol. 101,
8868–8872.

9
I.M. Farid et al. Chemosphere 292 (2022) 133389

Jiang, Z., Zheng, H., Xing, B., 2021. Environmental life cycle assessment of wheat Rengel, Z., 2011. Soil pH, soil health and climate change. In: Singh, B., Cowie, A.,
production using chemical fertilizer, manure compost, and biochar-amended manure Chan, K. (Eds.), Soil Health and Climate Change, Soil Biology, vol. 29. Springer,
compost strategies. Sci. Total Environ. 760, 143342. Berlin, Heidelberg, pp. 69–85.
Jirka, S., Tomlinson, T., 2015. State of the Biochar Industry 2015. A Survey of Rodrigues, M.Â., Torres, L.d.D., Damo, L., Raimundo, S., Sartor, L., Cassol, L.C.,
Commercial Activity in the Biochar Sector. A report by the International Biochar Arrobas, M., 2021. Nitrogen use efficiency and crop yield in four successive crops
Initiative (IBI). following application of biochar and zeolites. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. 21, 1053–1065.
Kang, S.-W., Yun, J.-J., Park, J.-H., Cho, J.-S., 2021. Exploring suitable biochar Said-Pullicino, D., Erriquens, F.G., Gigliotti, G., 2007. Changes in the chemical
application rates with compost to improve upland field environment. Agron 11, characteristics of water-extractable organic matter during composting and their
1136. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061136. influence on compost stability and maturity. Bioresour. Technol. 98, 1822–1831.
Kanwal, S., Ilyas, N., Shabir, S., Saeed, M., Gul, R., Zahoor, M., Batool, N., Mazhar, R., Shaheen, S.M., Antoniadis, V., Shahid, M., Yang, Y., Abdelrahman, H., Zhang, T.,
2018. Application of biochar in mitigation of negative effects of salinity stress in Hassan, N.E., Bibi, I., Niazi, N.K., Younis, S.A., Almazroui, M., Tsang, Y.F.,
wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J. Plant Nutr. 41, 526–538. Sarmah, A.K., Kim, K.-H., Rinklebe, J., 2022. Sustainable application of rice
Keiluweit, M., Bougoure, J., Nico, P., Pett-Ridge, J., Weber, P.K., Kleber, M., 2015. feedstock in agro-environmental and construction sectors: a global perspective.
Mineral protection of soil carbon counteracted by root exudates. Nat. Clim. Change Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 153, 111791.
5, 588–595. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2580. Shaheen, S.M., Niazi, N.K., Hassan, N.E.E., Bibic, I., Wang, H., Tsang, D.C.W., Ok, Y.S.,
Kinney, T.J., Masiello, C.A., Dugan, B., Hockaday, W.C., Dean, M.R., Zygourakis, K., Bolan, N., Rinklebe, J., 2019. Wood-based biochar for the removal of potentially
Barnes, R.T., 2012. Hydrologic properties of biochars produced at different toxic elements in water and wastewater: a critical review. Int. Mater. Rev. 64,
temperatures. Biomass Bioenergy 41, 34–43. 216–247.
Korai, P.K., Sial, T.A., Pan, G., Abdelrahman, H., Sikdar, H., Kumbhar, F., Channa, S.A., Shi, H., Guan, W., Shi, Y., Wang, S., Fan, H., Yang, J., Chen, W., Zhang, W., Sun, D.,
Ali, E.F., Zhang, J., Rinklebe, J., Shaheen, S.M., 2021. Wheat and maize-derived Jing, R., 2020. QTL mapping and candidate gene analysis of seed vigor-related traits
water-washed and unwashed biochar improved the nutrients phytoavailability and during artificial aging in wheat (Triticum aestivum). Sci. Rep. 10, 22060.
the grain and straw yield of rice and wheat: a field trial for sustainable management Sinnamon, L., 2010. Zucchini-When bigger isn’t better. Warm Earth 89, 12–13.
of paddy soils. J. Environ. Manag. 297 https://doi.org/10.1016/j. Sparks, D.L., Page, A.L., Helmke, P.A., Loeppert, R.H., Soltanpour, P.N., Tabatabai, M.A.,
jenvman.2021.113250. Johnston, C.T., Sumner, M.E., 1996. Methods of Soil Analysis Part 3—Chemical
Latifah, O., Ahmed, O.H., Abdul Majid, N.M., 2018. Soil pH buffering capacity and Methods, 5.3. SSSA Book Series, Madison, WI.
aitrogen availability following compost application in a tropical acid soil. Compost Sun, Y., Gao, B., Yao, Y., Fang, J., Zhang, M., Zhou, Y., Chen, H., Yang, L., 2014. Effects
Sci. Util. 26, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/1065657X.2017.1329039. of feedstock type, production method, and pyrolysis temperature on biochar and
Leão-Araújo, E.F., dos Santos, J.F., da Silva, C.B., Marcos-Filho, J., Vieira, R.D., 2017. hydrochar properties. Chem. Eng. J. 240, 574–578.
Controlled deterioration test and use of the Seed Vigor Imaging System (SVIS ® ) to Sun, Y., Xiong, X., He, M., Xu, Z., Hou, D., Zhang, W., Ok, Y.S., Rinklebe, J., Wang, L.,
evaluate the physiological potential of crambe seeds. J. Seed Sci. 39, 393–400. Tsang, D.C.W., 2021. Roles of biochar-derived dissolved organic matter in soil
Lehmann, J.L., Rillig, M.C., Thies, J., Masiello, C.A., Hockaday, W.C., Crowley, D., 2011. amendment and environmental remediation: a critical review. Chem. Eng. J. 424,
Biochar effects on soil biota – a review. Soil Biol. Biochem. 43 (9), 1812–1836. 130387.
Li, H., Zhang, T., Tsang, D., Li, G., 2020. Effects of external additives: biochar, bentonite, Szareski, V.J., Carvalho, I.R., Demari, G.H., da Rosa, T.C., 2018. Multivariate index of
phosphate, on co-composting for swine manure and corn straw. Chemosphere 248, soybean seed vigor: a new biometric approach applied to the effects of genotypes
125927. and environments. J. Seed Sci. 40, 396–406.
Li, G., Zhu, Q., Niu, Q., Meng, Q., Yan, H., Wang, S., Li, Q., 2021. The degradation of Tennison, I., Roschnik, S., Ashby, B., Boyd, R., Hamilton, I., 2021. Health care’s response
organic matter coupled with the functional characteristics of microbial community to climate change: a carbon footprint assessment of the NHS in England. Lancet
during composting with different surfactants. Bioresour. Technol. 321, 124446. Planet Health 5, e84–e92.
Li, J., Li, Y., Wu, Y., Zheng, M., 2014. A comparison of biochars from lignin, cellulose and Wang, L., Hu, W., Zahoor, R., Yang, X., Wang, Y., Zhou, Z., Meng, Y., 2019. Cool
wood as the sorbent to an aromatic pollutant. J. Hazard Mater. 280, 450–457. temperature caused by late planting affects seed vigor via altering kernel biomass
Lynch, J., Joseph, S., 2010. Guidelines for the Development and Testing of Pyrolysis and antioxidant metabolism in cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). Field Crop. Res. 236,
Plants to Produce Biochar. International Biochar Initiative, London, UK. 145–154.
Manirakiza, N., Şeker, C., 2020. Effects of compost and biochar amendments on soil Wang, S., Li, B., Zhu, H., Shen, J., Zhu, Q., Huang, D., Xu, C., Zhang, Q., Fang, Z., 2021.
fertility and crop growth in a calcareous soil. J. Plant Nutr. 43, 3002–3019. Long-term effects of biochar on trace metals accumulation in rice grain: a 7-year
Mao, J., Zhang, K., Chen, B., 2019. Linking hydrophobicity of biochar to the water field experiment. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 315, 107446.
repellency and water holding capacity of biochar-amended soil. Environ. Pollut. 253, Wen, E., Yang, X., Chen, H., Shaheen, S.M., Sarkar, B., Xu, S., et al., 2021. Iron-modified
779–789. biochar and water management regime-induced changes in plant growth, enzyme
Minu, K., Jiby, K., Kishore, V.V.N., 2012. Isolation and purification of lignin and silica activities, and phytoavailability of arsenic, cadmium and lead in a paddy soil.
from the black liquor generated during the production of bioethanol from rice straw. J. Hazard Mater. 407, 124344.
Biomass Bioenergy 39, 210–217. Were, D., Kansiime, F., Fetahi, T., et al., 2019. Carbon sequestration by wetlands: a
Mohamed, I., Ali, M., Ahmed, N., Abbas, M.H.H., Abdelsalam, M., Azab, A., Fang, C., critical review of enhancement measures for climate change mitigation. Earth Syst
2018. Cow manure-loaded biochar changes Cd fractionation and phytotoxicity for Environ 3, 327–340. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41748-019-00094-0.
wheat in a natural acidic contaminated soil. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. 162, 348–353. Yang, X., Pan, H., Shaheen, S.M., Wang, H., Rinklebe, J., 2021. Immobilization of
Moradi, S., Rasouli-Sadaghiani, M.H., Sepehr, E., Khadaverdiloo, H., Barin, M., 2019. cadmium and lead using phosphorus-rich animal-derived and iron-modified plant-
Soil nutrients status affected by simple and enriched biochar application under derived biochars under dynamic redox conditions in a paddy soil. Environ. Int. 156,
salinity conditions. Environ. Monit. Assess. 191, 257. 106628.
Mosa, A., El-Ghamry, A., Tolba, M., 2018. Functionalized biochar derived from heavy Yang, X., Shaheen, S.M., Wang, J., Hou, D., Ok, Y.S., Wang, S.L., Wang, H., Rinklebe, J.,
metal rich feedstock: phosphate recovery and reusing the exhausted biochar as an 2022. Elucidating the redox-driven dynamic interactions between arsenic and iron-
enriched soil amendment. Chemosphere 198, 351–363. impregnated biochar in a paddy soil using geochemical and spectroscopic
Murphy, J., Riley, J.P., 1962. A modified single solution method for determination of techniques. J. Hazard Mater. 422, 126808.
phosphate in natural waters. Anal. Chim. Acta 27, 31–36. Yu, H., Ding, W., Chen, Z., Zhang, H., Luo, J., Bolan, N., 2015. Accumulation of organic C
Nguyen, D.K., Huynh, T.L.D., Nasir, M.A., 2021. Carbon emissions determinants and components in soil and aggregates. Sci. Rep. 5, 13804. https://doi.org/10.1038/
forecasting: evidence from G6 countries. J. Environ. Manag. 285, 111988. srep13804.
Olsen, S.R., Cole, F.S., Watanable, F.S., Dean, L.A., 1954. Estimation of available Yuan, Y., Chen, H., Yuan, W., Williams, D., Walker, J.T., Shi, W., 2017. Is biochar-
phosphorus in soils by extraction with sodium bicarbonate. USDACirc 939. manure co-compost a better solution for soil health improvement and N2O emissions
Palanivell, P., Ahmed, O.H., Latifah, O., Abdul Majid, N.M., 2020. Adsorption and mitigation? Soil Biol. Biochem. 113, 14–25.
desorption of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and soil buffering capacity following Zahra, M.B., Fayyaz, B., Aftab, Z.E.H., Haider, M.S., 2021. Mitigation of degraded soils
application of chicken litter biochar to an acid soil. Appl. Sci. 10, 295. https://doi. by using biochar and compost: a systematic review. J. Soil Sci. Plant Nutr. https://
org/10.3390/app10010295. doi.org/10.1007/s42729-021-00558-1.
Palansooriya, K.N., Shaheen, S.M., Chen, S.S., Tsang, D.C.W., Hashimoto, Y., Hou, D., Zhang, T., Wu, X., Fan, X., Tsang, D., Li, G., Shen, Y., 2019. Corn waste valorization to
Bolan, N.S., Rinklebe, J., Ok, Y.S., 2020. Soil amendments for immobilization of generate activated hydrochar to recover ammonium nitrogen from compost leachate
potentially toxic elements in contaminated soils: a critical review. Environ. Int. 134, by hydrothermal assisted pretreatment. J. Environ. Manag. 236, 108–117.
105046. Zhang, T., Wu, X., Shaheen, S.M., Abdelrahman, H., et al., 2022. Improving the
Pan, H., Yang, X., Chen, H., Sarkar, B., Bolan, N., Shaheen, S.M., Wu, F., Che, L., Ma, Y., humification and phosphorus flow during swine manure composting: a trial for
Rinklebe, J., Wang, H., 2021. Pristine and iron-engineered animal- and plant-derived enhancing the beneficial applications of hazardous biowastes. J. Hazard Mater. 425,
biochars enhanced bacterial abundance and immobilized arsenic and lead in a 127906.
contaminated soil. Sci. Total Environ. 763, 144218. Zhang, X., Qu, J., Li, H., La, S., Tian, Y., Gao, L., 2020. Biochar addition combined with
Park, J., Lee, Y., Ryu, C., Park, Y.-K., 2014. Slow pyrolysis of rice straw: analysis of daily fertigation improves overall soil quality and enhances water-fertilizer
products properties, carbon and energy yields. Bioresour. Technol. 155, 63–70. productivity of cucumber in alkaline soils of a semi-arid region. Geoderma 363,
Ramakrishnan, B., Maddela, N.R., Venkateswarlu, K., Megharaj, M., 2021. Organic 114170.
farming: does it contribute to contaminant-free produce and ensure food safety? Sci.
Total Environ. 769, 145079.

10