Substitution of mineral fertilizers with biogas digestate plus biochar increases physically stabilized soil carbon but not crop biomass in a field trial.

Various organic amendments are scrutinized as potential agricultural management strategies to ensure soil productivity while mitigating climate change due to the accumulation of soil organic matter (OM). The objectives of this experiment were to study the effects of biochar and biogas digestate versus mineral fertilizer on crop aboveground biomass as well as fractions and mineralization of soil organic carbon (SOC). Samples of a sandy Cambisol were taken 14 months after establishment of a field experiment in Germany.