Investigation of No3–N Mass Balance Between Effluent and Soil Affected by Application of Raw Pistachio Residues and Its Biochar

Disturbance in nitrogen cycle balance has a negative impact on the overall trend of sustainable development and the use of soil amendments is necessary to reduce these hazards. In order to investigate the effect of some amendments and irrigation water salinity on mass nitrate balance, a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replicates was conducted. The treatments consisted of three levels of soil amendments (zero, 7.5 g/kg of raw pistachio residues and 7.5 g/kg of its biochar) and four salinity levels of irrigation water 0.5 (tap water), 5.5, 8 and 10.5 dS/m. Two pistachio seedlings were transferred to all columns and then in three stages and in each stage, 25 mg/kg N of potassium nitrate was added to the soil. After adding nitrogen, nitrate measurements were done in different times. The results indicated that the pistachio residuals and its biochar increased nitrate outflow from the soilby 9% and 52%, respectively. The nitrate concentration with the exit of about 60% of the drainage water (about 7 hours later) reached the lowest, then remained constant until complete exit.