Soil with heavy metals contamination, mainly lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr) is a progressively worldwide alarming environmental problem. Recently, biochar has been used as a soil amendment to remediate contaminated soils, but little work has been done to compare with other organic amendments like compost. We investigated biochar and compost's comparative effect on Pb, Cd, and Cr immobilization in soil, photosynthesis, and growth of maize plants. Ten kg soil was placed in pots and were spiked with Pb, Cd, and Cr at concentrations 20, 10, 20 mg kg-1. The biochar and compost treatments included 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4% were separately applied to the soil. The crop from pots was harvested after 60 days. The results show that the highest reduction of AB-DTPA extractable Pb, Cd, and Cr in soil was 79%, 61% and 78% with 4% biochar, followed by 61%, 43% and 60% with 4% compost compared to the control, respectively. Similarly, the highest reduction in shoot Pb, Cd, and Cr concentration was 71%, 63% and 78%with 4% biochar, followed by 50%, 50% and 71% with 4% compost than the control, respectively. The maximum increase in shoot and dry root weight, total chlorophyll contents, and gas exchange characteristics were recorded with 4% biochar, followed by 4% compost than the control. The maximum increase in soil organic matter and total nitrogen (N) was recorded at 4% biochar application while available phosphorus and potassium in the soil at 4% compost application. It is concluded that both biochar and compost decreased heavy metals availability in the soil, reducing toxicity in the plant. However, biochar was most effective in reducing heavy metals content in soil and plant compared to compost. In the future, more low-cost, eco-friendly soil remediation methods should be developed for better soil health and plant productivity.

Department of Agriculture Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 23200 Pakistan

Department of Agronomy Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan 60800 Pakistan

Department of Agronomy The University of Haripur Haripur 22620 Pakistan

Department of Botany and Microbiology College of Science King Saud University Riyadh 11451 Saudi Arabia

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

Department of Chemistry The Women University Multan Punjab 60000 Pakistan

Department of Food Science and Technology The University of Agriculture Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25120 Pakistan

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

Department of Geology Bacha Khan University Charsadda Pakistan

Department of Horticulture Northeast Agriculture University Harbin China

Department of Plant Protection The University of Agriculture Peshawar Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 25120 Pakistan

Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences The University of Agriculture Peshawar Pakistan

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

Faculty of Trophical AgriSciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague Czechia

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

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