Biochar and organic fertilizer utilization in enhancing corn yield on various types of dryland

Abstract

The utilization of organic material on dryland management is generally ineffective in supporting soil productivity. This study evaluated the effectiveness of organic fertilizer and biochar applications on corn yield for various dryland soils. A pot experiment was conducted using three soil types from dryland areas. A nested design was used with three replicates based on biochar and organic fertilizer nested within three different soil types: Inceptisol, Entisol and Entisol lithic subgroup. The biochars were made from corn cobs, rice husks and tobacco industry waste, while the organic fertilizers used were compost and chicken manure. Twelve treatments including a control were planted with the ‘Pertiwi’ corn variety. The results showed that the highest yields of corn were in the Entisol lithic subgroup (221±2.0 g bag-1 with the application of rice husk biochar+chicken manure) and in the Inceptisol (176±0.6 gbag-1 with the application of corncob biochar+chicken manure). The application of biochars and organic fertilizers resulted in the same corn yield in the Entisol. Soil fertility improvement, evaluated using chemical properties, produced a better corn yield when the combination of biochar and manure was utilized in all three soil types.