Effects of Synergistic Improvement with Sludge and Waste on Growth of Highland Barley, Soil Properties and Carbon Sequestration in Plateau Tunnel Engineering

Key Points

• The aim is to explore how mixing different ratios of sludge and waste improves the growth of highland barley and enhances soil properties and carbon sequestration.
• Conducted field experiments at a tunnel waste site in Tibet at 3650m altitude.
• Set up two control groups and five experimental groups with various sludge and waste combinations.
• Analyzed effects on barley growth, soil properties, and carbon sequestration measures.
• The best improvement was with dried sludge and kitchen waste compost, increasing organic matter significantly compared to controls.
• Barley in optimal mix showed a 75.4% increase in height, 221.3% in above-ground weight, and 271.4% in root weight.
• Total carbon sequestration in the best treatment reached 2280g/m², with a soil organic carbon increase of 3774g/m².