17TH CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNACIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR SOIL / Medelln (Colombia), 8 al 12 de julio de 2013 277

MEMORIAS MEMORIAS
Use of Biochar in volcanic soils of
Southern Chile and its effect on yield
parameters of Hordeum vulgare
CURAQUEO, G
1
., GONZLEZ, A
1
., CEA, M
1
., MEIER, S
1
., BORIE, F
1
., NAVIA, R
1
.
1
Scientifc and Technological Bioresource Nucleus. Universidad de La Frontera. P.O. Box 54-D. Temuco, Chile.
E-mail: gcura@ufro.cl
17TH CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNACIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR SOIL / Medelln (Colombia), 8 al 12 de julio de 2013
MEMORIAS
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH SOIL CONSERVATION
Use of Biochar in volcanic soils of
Southern Chile and its effect on
yield parameters of hordeum vulgare
ARTI CLE I NF O ABS TRACT
Keywords:
Biochar, soil properties, agricultural
productivity T
he use of biochar (BC) as an amendment for agricultural
soils is a promising practice, because it improves some
soil parameters and could contribute to increase crop
yields. Te aim of this study was to evaluate the use of BC on
some soil physical-chemical parameters and yield of barley
(Hordeum vulgare) in two volcanic soils of southern Chile. For
the above, BC was produced using oat hulls processed at 300
C and 2 h of pyrolysis. We evaluated the BC phytotoxic efect
through a germination test. After that, doses of 5, 10 and 20
Mg ha
-1
of BC were applied in both Ultisol and Inceptisol,
using a treatment without BC application as a control. In the
crop, relative chlorophyll concentration (SPAD) and grain yield
production were determined, whereas in soil, pH, electrical
conductivity (EC), bulk density, porosity and water holding
capacity (WHC) were also measured. Te results showed that the
application of 20 Mg ha
-1
of BC increased grain yield by 30.5%
and 21.9% in the Inceptisol and Ultisol respectively. In addition,
SPAD measurements were not afected by the application of
BC. Finally, an increase in the soil pH and WHC was observed
when the use of higher BC doses, whereas no diference was
observed in bulk density, EC and porosity. Our results show that
the use of biochar as amendment in agriculture soil can be an
efective alternative of soil management improving physical and
chemical soil properties, thus promoting a higher productivity of
agricultural crops. Acknowledgements: FONDECYT Project
3120213.