Nitrogen (N) losses are dominant under alkaline soil due to excessive use of N fertilizers, but low nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Acacia prunings biochar (BC) at 0, 10, 20 and 30 t ha-1 rates combined with 0, 90, 120 and 150 kg N applied lonely from urea, farm yard manure (FYN), poultry manure (PM) on Wheat yield components, NUE and its associated parameters during 2 years of field experiment (2015-2017). The results showed that the application of only BC significantly improved thousand-grain weight (TGW), grain spike-1, NUE, and nitrogen uptake efficiency (NUpE) by 10.81, 9.02, 21.35, and 16.43% when compared to the BC control. Similarly, the application of only N management significantly improved TGW, grain spike-1, nitrogen utilization efficiency (NUtE), and nitrogen harvest index (NHI) by 32.14, 27.98, 4.47, and 16.66%, respectively, over absolute control when averaged across the years. Moreover, BC + N fertilizers significantly affected all of the above parameters. Hence, it can be summarized from our study that the combined application of 20 t BC and 150 kg N from poultry manure significantly improved yield components of wheat as well as NUE of fertilizers under semi-arid conditions.
Open Access
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Accepted manuscript
on April 1, 2026
Improvement in nitrogen use efficiency and associated parameters can accomplish by combined application of biochar and nitrogenous fertilizers
Abstract
Graphical abstract
Keywords
natural resources and ecosystems management,
Compost application and Organic amendments.,
biochar