The Impact of Biochar Addition on Nutrient Leaching and Soil Properties from Tillage Soil Amended with Pig Manure

Journal articleThe application of pig manure to a tillage soil can result in pollution of surface and groundwater bodies. Countries in the European Union are required to comply with the Water Framework Directive, which states that all countries should attain at least &quot;good status&quot; surface and ground water quality by 2015. Amendment of soil with biochar has previously been shown to reduce nutrient leaching and improve soil properties. The objectives of this laboratory study were to investigate if the application of two types of biochar at a rate of 18 t ha(-1) (a) reduced leaching of carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from a low P Index tillage soil amended with pig manure and (b) affected the soil properties before and after pig manure application. Three treatments were examined as follows: (a) non-amended soil (the study control), (b) soil mixed with biochar from the separated solid fraction of anaerobically digested pig manure, and (c) of soil mixed with biochar from Sitka Spruce. Columns, filled with sieved soil (<2 mm) and biochar (