The role of biochar and compost to mitigate agrochemical contamination impact on agricultural soils

Agrochemicals such as plant growth agents, pesticides, and fertilizers are widely utilized in agricultural practices to promote crop yields. The long-term and excessive usage of agrochemical inputs often results in poor soil health, contamination of pesticide residue, and heavy metals in the environment and food chain, which can also cause human health-related problems. Using biochar and compost in agricultural soils is known to increase soil fertility, improve degraded land, increase the soil microbial population, and reduce heavy metal contamination and pesticide residues. This article aims to examine the role of biochar and compost in reducing the impact of agrochemical contamination on soils in supporting environmentally friendly agricultural management. Biochars are organic matrices, and organic matrices can make heavy metals immobile and nonbioavailable in various physicochemical ways. Biochar could be effective in medium-fertility soils in term of water and nutrient retention and carbon sequestration. Compost is wealthy in nutrients, microorganisms, and humic matter. Compost may be added to agricultural soil as a fertilizer to increase soil fertility and support the growth of crops and microorganisms and as a soil amendment to mitigate heavy metal contamination in soil. The biochar-compost mixture application was shown to be more effective than biochar alone in improving soil properties and having direct economic value on crop yields. Other advantages informed by biochar-compost merging into soils can reduce fertilizer applications, increase the efficiency of fertilizer and water input, and decrease environmental contamination (heavy metal accumulation and pesticide residue in soil).