Dr. Melanie Weckert & Dr. Loothfar Rahman
National Wine and Grape Industry Centre, 14th March 2014.
Effects of poultry litter biochar on vineyard soil and root biology
www.csu.edu.au/nwgic
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
"This work was supported by the Winegrowing Futures Program, a joint initiative of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre"
Field trial
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
Poultry litter biochar
(continuous slow pyrolysis pilot unit at 550ºC maximum temperature)
Compared with three other organic amendments:
• rice hulls
•composted cow manure
• composted green waste
Yenda vineyard
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
Warm climate NSW vineyard
(mean January temperature 32.4º C)
Soil: Sandy clay
pH (CaCl2) = 6.3
OC = 1.0%
P avail (Colwell) = 156 mg/kg
Nitrate N = 17 mg/kg
Dispersion index = 8.2 (flood irrigation, cultivation)
Yenda vineyard
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
Grapevines:
Five year old Vitis vinifera cv. Chardonnay on Ramsey rootstock
Some healthy, some diseased
(Young Vine Decline: caused by root fungi (Ilyonectria) and trunk fungi (Botryosphaeriacea) in rootstock planting material from vine nursery).
Whitelaw-Weckert MA, Rahman L, Appleby LM, Hall A, Clark AC, Hardie WJ, Waite HL, 2013. Co-infection by Botryosphaeriaceae and Ilyonectria spp. Fungi During Propagation Causes Decline of Young Grafted Grapevines. Plant Pathology 62, 1226-1237
www.nwgic.orgThe National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the
NSW Wine Industry Association
"This work was supported by the Winegrowing Futures Program, a joint initiative of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation and the National Wine and Grape Industry Centre"
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
*
Ilyonectria spp. (formerly Cylindrocarpon) causes grapevine root disease ‘black-foot’
Methods
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
Added volumes of each soil amendment (1.2 kg C) into soil around grapevines at budburst.
Fertiliser N was applied to the soil as a drench to produce a C/N ratio of 10 for each amendment
Monitored for two seasons only.
Biochar increased grapevine root mass
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
Grapevine root mass
Control
Biochar
Composted cowmanure
Composted greenwaste
Rice husks
l.s.d.
Biochar increased soil C (%)
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
0.85
0.9
0.95
1
1.05
1.1
1.15
1
Control
Biochar
Composted cow manure
Composted green waste
Rice husks
a
b
bb
(Bars with the same letter are not significantly different at 5% l.s.d.)
Biochar & rice increased soil moisture
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
(Bars with the same letter are not significantly different at 5% l.s.d.)
10
10.5
11
11.5
12
12.5
13
13.5
1
Control
Biochar
Composted cow manure
Composted green waste
Rice husks
a
ab
b
c
bc
Soil fungi and bacteria
(by traditional dilution plating )
Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) by Ion Torrent (PGM) Platform to follow
Decrease in suppressive microbes
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
Fungal pathogen
Soil bacteria suppresses Bot canker fungus
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Cellulolytic fungi
So
il p
op
ula
tio
ns
(104 C
FU
/ g
dry
so
il)
Control
Biochar
Composted cowmanure
Composted greenwaste
Rice husks
Biochar increased soil cellulolytic fungi
*
Biochar did not increase soil total bacteria
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Total bacteria
So
il p
op
ula
tio
n (
104 C
FU
/ g
dry
so
il)
Control
Biochar
Composted cowmanure
Composted greenwaste
Rice husks
L.S.D.
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
Total bacteria
So
il p
op
ula
tio
n (
104 C
FU
/ g
dry
so
il)
Control
Biochar
Composted cowmanure
Composted greenwaste
Rice husks
L.S.D.a
aa
b
b
Predatory Bacteria feeder Parasitic
Nematodes – by microscopy
Ln parasitic nematodes per kg soil (healthy vines)
(Bars with the same letter are not significantly different at 5% l.s.d.)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
Control
Biochar
Composted cow manure
Composted green waste
Rice husks
e
ab abbcd
cde
Biochar & composts decreased parasitic
nematodes
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1
Control
Biochar
Composted cow manure
Composted green waste
Rice husks
de
a
de
f
abc
Ln parasitic nematodes per kg soil (diseased vines)(Bars with the same letter are not significantly different at 5% l.s.d.)
But with diseased vines, composts did not
decrease parasitic nematodes
Ratio ln beneficial nematodes to ln parasitic nematodes (healthy vines)
(Bars with the same letter are not significantly different at 5% l.s.d.)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
1
Control
Biochar
Composted cow manure
Composted green waste
Rice husksa
bb
b b
Biochar & composts increased ratio of
beneficial to parasitic nematodes
Ratio ln beneficial nematodes to ln parasitic nematodes (diseased vines)
(Bars with the same letter are not significantly different at 5% l.s.d.)
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
1
Control
Biochar
Composted cow manure
Composted green waste
Rice husksa
b
a
a
b
But with diseased vines, composts did not increase
ratio of beneficial to parasitic nematodes
Interesting?
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
Some effects of the soil amendments were notobserved when they were applied to soil under grapevines with root disease.
This indicates the importance of knowing the initial disease status of experimental plants before making conclusions regarding the effectiveness of soil amendments, including biochars.
Conclusion
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
The organic soil amendments improved vineyard soil health by generally increasing numbers of fungi, bacteria and beneficial nematodes.
Biochar had the greatest effect on soil fungi and nematodes.
Acknowledgements
The National Wine and Grape Industry Centre is a research centre within Charles Sturt University in alliance with the Department of Primary Industries NSW and the NSW Wine Industry Association
Grape & Wine Research & Development Corporation of Australia -funding.
•Lucas van Zwieten, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) for donating the PL biochar.
• Lynne Appleby; Rob Lamont for technical assistance.
• Bev Orchard (stats).
• Mark Conyers, Lorraine Spohr (NSW DPI) and Heidi Parkes Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) - critically review of the nematode part of this work.
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