GiESCO 2019 banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 GiESCO 9 Effects of the addition of biochar on the chemical parameters of a vineyard soil in South Tirol, Italy

Effects of the addition of biochar on the chemical parameters of a vineyard soil in South Tirol, Italy

Abstract

Context and purpose of the study – The usage of pyrogenic carbon (or biochar) to change the chemical and physical properties of agricultural soil has been carried out since many centuries. In the South Tirol region in northern Italy wood gasification plants are used for mainly district heating purposes and generate a fair amount (1.300 t/year) of biochar with varying characteristics as byproducts. The ERDFfunded project «WoodUp» has as one of its goals the characterization and reutilization of the locally produced biochars for agricultural purposes and climate change mitigation. The Free University of Bolzano/Bozen as its lead partner is collaborating with the Laimburg Research Centre for the field trials in viticulture and fruit growing involving biochar from wood gasification plants. The changes of the chemical parameters in soil of a vineyard following the application of biochar has shown some interesting results.

Material and methods – In an existing vineyard of Müller Thurgau (planted 2007, on SO4) (Fig. 1) 5 different treatments plus a control with 4 repetitions each have been carried out. The treatments were: 3,9 kg/ m² dry matter compost (C), 2,5 kg/m² dry matter biochar (B1), 5 kg/m² dry matter biochar (B2), 2,5 kg/m² dry matter biochar plus 3,9 kg/ m² dry matter compost (B1C), 5 kg/m² dry matter biochar plus 3,9 kg/ m² dry matter compost (B2C) and the control which was left untreated (N). The biochar was incorporated between the rows with the use of a spade plough and a rotating harrow at approx. 30 cm depth. The soil samples were taken 2 months and 1 year after the incorporation of the biochar at 2 different dept ranges: 0 – 30 cm and 30 – 60 cm. For every repetition 4 single soil samples were taken and mixed together. The soils were analyzed to determine pH, total organic carbon, plant available phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, boron, manganese, copper and zinc.

Results – The soil analysis show that the incorporation of biochar affects a wide range of soil parameters such as an increase in pH ([1]Hass et al, 2012) and total organic carbon content and increases the plant availability of potassium, magnesium, boron, slightly increases phosphorous and zinc and interestingly decreases the manganese and copper availability in the vineyard soil. The changes appear to be stable in time and are present also in the deeper layers of the soil where the biochar has not been directly incorporated. These changes show a potential for ameliorating vineyard soils ([2]Schmid et al, 2014, [3]Genesio et al, 2015), in part by increasing the organic carbon content and with it the water holding capacity and by increasing the availability of nutrients such as boron, magnesium and potassium, while also rendering less available ([4]Park et al,2011) through adsorption heavy metals like copper and manganese often present in higher concentrations in vineyard soils due to plant protection products.

DOI:

Publication date: September 8, 2023

Issue: GiESCO 2019

Type: Poster

Authors

Maximilian LÖSCH1*, Barbara RAIFER1, Aldo MATTEAZZI2

1 Institute for fruit Growing and Viticulture, Laimburg Research Centre, Laimburg 6, 39040 Auer, Italy
2 Institute for Agrochemistry and Food Quality, Laimburg Research Centre, Laimburg 6, 39040 Auer, Italy

Contact the author

Tags

GiESCO | GiESCO 2019 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Challenges and opportunities for increasing organic carbon in vineyard soils: perspectives of extension specialists

Context description and research question: an increasing number of farmers are considering the impact of conservation practices on soil health to guide sustainable management of vineyards. Understanding impacts of soil management on soil organic carbon (SOC) is one lever for adoption of agroecological practice with potential to help maintain or improve soil health while building SOC stocks to mitigate climate change (Amelung et al., 2020).

The effect of management practices and landscape context on vineyard biodiversity

Intensification is considered one of the major drivers of biodiversity loss in farmland. The more intensive management practices that have been adopted the last decades, contributed to species declines from all taxonomic groups. Moreover, agricultural intensification has led to an important change of land use. Complex, mixed agro-ecosystems with cultivated and non-cultivated habitats have been converted to simplified, intensive and homogeneous ones with severe effects on biodiversity.

New ways of grape pomaces valorization: production of functional beverages or nutraceuticals

The wine industry generates each year 20 million tons of by-products. Among them grape pomaces represent a big part that can be considered as a source of potentially bioactive molecules such as polyphenols. Kombucha fermentation is an ancestral process which allow to increase the biological properties of tea by the action of a microbial consortium formed by yeasts and bacteria called scoby.

Use of new tools for red wine aging: active and passive microoxygenation with oak wood. Effect on volatile compounds and sensorial impact

The aim of this study was to evaluate the evolution of different chemical parameters and sensory impact on red wine during maturation in barrels or with new technologies

High resolution climatic zoning of the Portuguese viticultural regions

Viticulture and winemaking represent a key sector for the Portuguese economy. As grapevines are strongly governed by atmospheric factors, climate change may impose a major threat to this crop. In this study, the current-past (1950-2000) and future (2041-2070) climatic conditions in Portugal are analyzed using a number of bioclimatic indices, including a new categorized index (CatI).