Influence of Biochar Amendment on Soil Water Characteristics and Crop Growth Enhancement Under Salinity Stress

Salinity is an important environmental constraint to crop productivity in arid and semi-arid regions of the world. Most crop plants, including tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill), are sensitive to salinity throughout the ontogeny of the plant. Biochar was used in the present study to improve the available water content (AWC), growth, yield and irrigation water use efficiency of tomato plant under saline soil condition. The biochar was applied at the rates of, 0%, 2% and 4% w/w and expressed as Ck (control), T1 and T2, respectively. The experiment was conducted in the pots inside the greenhouse. The results showed that soil bulk density, field capacity, permanent wilting point, AWC, and soil organic matter were improved significantly as biochar application rate increased. Biochar application also enhanced plant height, stem diameter, plant fresh and dry weights and yield components of tomato plant. It was found that biochar application at T2 treatment in the whole growing period was best to improve tomato plant growth and yield, providing a biochar amendment recommendation for tomato production in field. Moreover, biochar application improved the irrigation water use efficiency. Therefore, biochar amendment could be an effective option to improve saline soil which affected croplands