In this work, the cocoa pod husk (CPH) was converted into biochar products at higher carbonization temperatures (i.e., 400–800 °C). The pore and chemical properties of the resulting biochars and its post-leaching biochars by acid washing, including specific surface area, total pore volume, pore size distribution, true density, and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were studied. Based on the pore properties, pyrolysis temperature at around 800 °C seemed to have the most profound impact on the pore development for producing biochar, where its Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) surface area is 101 m²/g. More noticeably, more pores in the CPH-based biochar could be significantly created during the acid-washing, resulting in an increase of BET surface area from 101 to 342 m²/g. According to the data on the EDS and FTIR, the resulting biochars seemed to have oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface. Furthermore, the methylene blue (MB) adsorption performance of the optimal biochar product with maximal BET surface area was tested to fit its kinetics by the pseudo-second order model, showing a strong interaction between the biochar adsorbent and the cationic adsorbate.

Uncertainty remains over composting time and maturity degree for compost production. The objectives of this study were to establish maturity indicators for composting based on spectral and chemical components and to provide a reference for future composting management. Several indicators of composting were assessed for three commercial composts at 0, 7, 15, 30, 45, and 60 days during the germination of Chinese cabbage, including (1) central temperature, (2) moisture content, (3) pH, (4) electrical conductivity, (5) C/N ratio, (6) E4/E6 ratio, (7) fluorescence humification index (HIX), and (8) germination index (GI). We evaluated the optimal composting time using these indicators, reflecting the changes in hog manure, chicken manure, and agricultural by-product composts throughout their composting process to provide a basis for maturity time. The results showed that the E4/E6 ratio, C/N ratio, humic acid (HA), fulvic acid (FA), and germination rate, which reached a stable status after 30 days of composting, could be the indicators of “early-stage” maturity. In contrast, central temperature, electrical conductivity, HIX, and GI reached stable values after 45 days of composting and thus could be more suitable indicators of full maturity. Based on our results, we recommend a minimum composting time of 30 days to achieve primary maturity, while fully matured compost may be obtained after 45 days.

The edible mushroom industry has grown significantly in recent years due to the dietary change and the demand for heathy food. However, the spent mushroom compost (SMC) will be produced in large quantities after the harvest, thus forming an agricultural waste requiring proper management other than dumping or burning. In this work, two types of SMCs with the cultivation of shiitake fungus (SF) and black fungus (BF) were converted into porous biochar products (a series of SMC-SF-BC and SMC-BF-BC) at higher pyrolysis temperatures (i.e., 400, 600 and 800 °C) based on their thermochemical characteristics, using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The pore and chemical properties of the resulting products, including surface area, pore volume, average pore size, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), were studied to correlate them with the most important process parameter. The results showed that the pore properties of the biochar products indicated a significant increase with the increase in the pyrolysis temperature from 400 to 600 °C. The data on the maximal Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area for the biochar products produced at 800 °C (i.e., SMC-SF-BC-800 and SMC-BF-BC-800) were found to be 312.5 and 280.9 m²/g, respectively. Based on the EDS and FTIR, plenty of oxygen-containing functional groups were found on the surface of the resulting biochar products.

Using beneficial microorganisms, such as purple non-sulfur bacteria (PNSB), has shown enormous potential for improving plant growth and agricultural production. However, the full extent of their benefits and interactions with agricultural practices is yet to be fully understood. The present study aimed to investigate the use of PNSB in crop rotation practice, focusing on its impact on rice growth and yield. The experiment was conducted over two rice cropping seasons, with djulis grown between the rice as a rotation crop. The study shows that PNSB treatment increased the concentration of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) in plants, indicating enhanced photosynthesis. Moreover, when combined with crop rotation, PNSB remarkably improved soil fertility. These combined benefits resulted in substantial increases in tiller numbers (163%), leaf chlorophyll content (13%), and lodging resistance (66%), compared to the untreated plants. The combined treatment also resulted in higher productive tillers per hill (112%), average grain per hill (65%), and grain fertility (26%). This led to increased grain yield (65%), shoot dry weight (15%), and harvest index (37%). The findings clearly suggest that the incorporation of PNSB in crop rotation strategies can significantly augment the growth and yield of rice crops. These insights, pivotal for sustainable rice cultivation, hold the potential to simultaneously tackle the pressing issues of global food security and climate change.

Climate change affects global crop production year after year. Exploring the impact of different fertilization methods on crop yield stability has become an extremely important topic in sustainable agriculture. The objective of this study is to explore the effects of various fertilization regimes with climate variability on yield stability for sweet corn production in southern Taiwan. Three fertilization treatments composed of chemical fertilizer only (CF), integrated fertilizer (half organic/half chemical fertilizer) (IF), and organic fertilizer only (OF) were implemented from 2009 to 2018 based on the well-maintained soils since 1988. While the same amounts of these fertilizers were applied during the period, we found that different fertilization changed the marketable yields of fresh fruit (ear), which slightly increased for organic fertilizer, but substantially decreased for both chemical (p = 0.0001) and integrated (p = 0.0061) fertilizer. Thus, based on these 10 years of observation, yields among fertilization treatments were analyzed with weather and soil parameters to determine the possible factors involved. Both multiple linear regression equation (p < 0.0001, adj. R² > 0.57) and regression tree analysis illustrated significantly negative correlations between average ear weight and relative humidity under the chemical fertilizer treatment. In this study, we show for the first time that chemical fertilizer had the lowest yield resilience in response to regional relative humidity change compared to organic and integrated fertilizers. Our results also indicate that specific soil microbes have the potential to help sweet corn face environmental vulnerability in subtropical regions.

This study proposes an improved methodology based on life cycle assessment (LCA), which is used to calculate the carbon footprint of agriculture, provides a simple and feasible calculation path, and constructs a streamlined framework for calculating the carbon footprint based on the agricultural traceability system records. Using important economic crop (Onion) as research subject, and choose the largest planting area in R.O.C. (southern Taiwan) as a case study. A total of 64 farm production history records have been collected, includes all of farms certified with a traceable agricultural products (TAP) label. Through a detailed analysis of the traditional carbon footprint calculation method, found that agricultural traceability system records could replace the data source in carbon footprint verification (CFV) process, and system records could be used as activity data after being organized. With our method, no need to go through a complicated CFV process, just download the existing data on agricultural traceability system, can start calculating carbon footprint as soon as possible. To compared to traditional assessment method, results show a margin of error is less than 6% compared to traditional assessment methods. Advantages of improved method were be found, such as easy data acquisition, simplified calculation steps, and improved data transparency and accuracy. From statistical data, show that at least seven categories of carbon emission sources for carbon footprints, the most significant of carbon emission impact are fertilizers. The result of improved methodology based on life cycle assessment (LCA), show that using the improved methods can help promote the carbon footprint management efficiency of agricultural organizations such as Farmers’ Association or Agricultural Production Marketing Group, promptly monitor the carbon footprint status of their fields and adjust strategies to reduce carbon footprints in real-time, advancing towards the goal of net-zero carbon emissions.