Effect of wood residues of pistachio biochar on growth characteristics of Safflower

Proper management and use of agricultural waste is one of the important strategies for sustainable development of agriculture in Iran. Given that most of the country is covered by arid and semi-arid lands, rapid decomposition of organic matter and its deficiency in soil is one of the problems of agriculture and natural resources, preventing the waste from being burnt and making optimum use of it can both compensate for the lack of soil organic matter and reduce environmental pollution. Considering the high durability of biochar in soil, a useful strategy for organic waste management is use of biochar on agricultural land to provide organic matter for plant growth and as a modifier to improve soil properties. Due to the expansion of pistachio cultivation in central Iran, pruning of its branches results in considerable amounts of waste annually, which is usually burned to prevent pest spread. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of pistachio waste on growth characteristics of safflower.

In order to investigate the effect of biochar on growth characteristics of safflower, an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with three replications. Biochar treatment prepared from pistachio wood at 500 ° C under low oxygen conditions was studied at four levels of 0, 1, 2 and 4%. by weight. At the end of the growth period, plants were collected and leaf area, leaf length and width, number of yellow, green leaves and total, internodes distance, fresh and dry weight of shoot and root, stem height, germination time from planting, relative leaf water content, Ion leakage percentage, leaf chlorophyll index, sodium, potassium and phosphorus concentration and sodium to potassium concentration ratio were measured. Data were analyzed in SAS software and mean comparisons were made using Duncan test at 5% level.

The results showed that the effect of biochar treatment on leaf area, fresh and dry weight of plants, root dry weight, plant height, leaf chlorophyll, ion leakage percentage, leaf relative water content, sodium, phosphorus and potassium concentration and sodium to potassium concentration ratio were significant. However, the effect of this treatment on leaf length and width indices, number of green and yellow leaves and their total, root fresh weight, internodes distance and germination time was not significant. Mean comparison showed that the highest leaf area (413.25 mm 2), root dry weight (1.17 g), fresh weight (3.79 g) and plant dry weight (0.89 g), plant height (0.25 g). 52 cm), relative leaf water content (89.2%), potassium concentration (2.81%) and phosphorus (0.24%) were obtained at the highest biochar level (4% by weight). Also, the highest leaf chlorophyll index content (53.8%) was observed in one percent biochemical treatment and the highest ion leakage (81.75%), sodium concentration (3.35%) and sodium to potassium ratio (1.63) were observed in control treatment. .

This study showed that the use of biochar can improve the morphophysiological properties and concentration of essential elements such as phosphorus and potassium in the aerial parts of safflower, and in this regard, the amount of biochar consumption is important. According to Biochar analysis in terms of nutrients and carbon content, it seems that Biochar application may improve the nutritional status of these elements in soil and also increase Soil moisture storage capacity due to high content of Biochar organic carbon, it Provide a more suitable environment for plant growth and thereby improve growth indicators. Therefore, if the pistachio and other agricultural products waste are used properly as biochar, compensates a part of the lack of organic matter in the soils of dry areas and environmental pollution can be prevented.