Effect of Different Rates of Biochar on Soil Moisture Characteristics under partial root zone drying of maize

The main purpose of irrigation and partial root zone drying is to overcome soil moisture deficit in root zone for plant use and water saving, respectively. In addition, one of the soil amendments to increase soil fertility is biochar, which affects the amount of water abstraction in the root zone. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of partial root zone irrigation of maize under different level of biochar (6 and 12 ton ha-1) on the moisture characteristics and soil water content of loamy texture. The project was done in Ahmadabad Mostofi research farm in Tehran. This project was complete block design under split plot with three replicates. The results showed that full irrigation treatment had the highest amount of soil saturation moisture and available water, which had a significant difference with partial root zone irrigation (PRD) treatments. On the other hand, in the soil of PRD, under low matric potential and near saturation level, the maximum of soil moisture content was related to 12 ton per ha treatment of biochar. In addition, this treatment had the highest amount of available water and water content that were 24 and 15 % and 18.6 and 9.8 %, respectively, higher than 0 and 6 ton ha-1 biochar treatments. Therefore, the biochar can effectively improve the soil ability to maintain water. This condition has improved the maize yield under partial root zone irrigation.