In this study, we explored the role of biochar (BC) and/or urease inhibitor (UI) in mitigating ammonia (NH3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) discharge from urea fertilized wheat cultivated fields in Pakistan (34.01°N, 71.71°E). The experiment included five treatments [control, urea (150 kg N ha-1), BC (10 Mg ha-1), urea + BC and urea + BC + UI (1 L ton-1)], which were all repeated four times and were carried out in a randomized complete block design. Urea supplementation along with BC and BC + UI reduced soil NH3 emissions by 27% and 69%, respectively, compared to sole urea application. Nitrous oxide emissions from urea fertilized plots were also reduced by 24% and 53% applying BC and BC + UI, respectively, compared to urea alone. Application of BC with urea improved the grain yield, shoot biomass, and total N uptake of wheat by 13%, 24%, and 12%, respectively, compared to urea alone. Moreover, UI further promoted biomass and grain yield, and N assimilation in wheat by 38%, 22% and 27%, respectively, over sole urea application. In conclusion, application of BC and/or UI can mitigate NH3 and N2O emissions from urea fertilized soil, improve N use efficiency (NUE) and overall crop productivity.

Crop Science Institute of Crop Science and Resources Conservation University of Bonn Bonn Germany

Department of Agricultural Chemistry The University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan

Department of Agriculture University of Swabi Swabi Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Department of Agronomy MNS University of Agriculture Multan Multan Pakistan

Department of Agronomy The University of Haripur Haripur Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 22620 Pakistan

Department of Botany Hindu College Moradabad Moradabad 244001 India

Department of Geology and Pedology Faculty of Forestry and Wood Technology Mendel University in Brno Zemedelska1 61300 Brno Czech Republic

Department of Horticulture Northeast Agricultural University Harbin China

Department of Plant Pathology The University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan

Department of Plant Protection The University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan

Department of Soil and Environmental Science The University of Agriculture Peshawar KPK Pakistan

Department of Soil Science Bangladesh Agricultural University Mymensingh 2202 Bangladesh

Department of Soil Science Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan Punjab 60800 Pakistan

Faculty of Tropical AgriSciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Prague Czech Republic

Hainan Key Laboratory for Sustainable Utilization of Tropical Bioresource College of Tropical Crops Hainan University Haikou 570228 Hainan China

Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering The University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan

Process and Environmental Technology Lab Department of Chemical Engineering KU Leuven Leuven Belgium

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