Abstract
Ultisols have poor soil characteristics, yet biochar is one of the technologies that can be applied as a soil enhancer to improve the soil quality. Biochar has succeeded in improving soil quality, through improving soil physical, chemical, and biological properties. This research aimed to improve the quality of soil chemical properties and growth of maize plant, as well as to find a combination between biochar type and dosage of biochar that is able to improve the chemical properties of Ultisols and/or the growth of maize plant. This research was conducted at the Greenhouse and Soil Science Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Lampung. This study used a randomized block design (RBD) arranged in factorial with 3 factors and 3 replications. The first factor was the soil layer (topsoil and subsoil), the second factor was the type of biochar (biochar of cocoa shell and biochar of oil palm shell), and the third factor was the biochar dosage (0, 10%, 20%, and 30% of 10 kg of oven dry weight soil). The results showed that (1) the application of biochar from the cocoa shell and oil palm shell on Ultisols improved some parts of soil chemical properties, namely CEC, organic C, and Kexc, (2) application of biochar from the cocoa shell and oil palm shell on Ultisols increased the plant height, the number of leaves, and the dry weight of maize, (3) application of biochar from the cocoa shell at a dosage of 20% was significantly improved CEC of Ultisols (4) application of biochar from the cocoa shell in top soil at a dosage of 30% significantly improved the soil organic C of Ultisol, (5) application of biochar from cacao shell at a dosage of 30% was significantly improved Kexc, (6) application of biochar from oil palm shell at a dosage of 10% significantly increased maize plant growth.
Highlights
Soil is one of the factors that play an important role in agriculture site, because soil is a growing medium and provides nutrients for plants
In terms of soil chemical properties, Ultisols are characterized by soil acidity accompanied by high Al, Fe, and Mn content; high P adsorption, low cation exchange capacity (CEC), low organic C content and the availability of elements such as N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Mo are relatively low (Kaya 2009; Yuwono 2009)
Input technology is needed to improve the quality of Ultisols by using soil amendments, such as biochar, which is a soil enhancer that has been known for a long time
Summary
Soil is one of the factors that play an important role in agriculture site, because soil is a growing medium and provides nutrients for plants. Agricultural land in Indonesia is dominated by Ultisols. Sumatra has the second highest area of Ultisols after Kalimantan (Prasetyo and Suriadikarta 2006). In terms of soil chemical properties, Ultisols are characterized by soil acidity (pH) accompanied by high Al, Fe, and Mn content; high P adsorption, low cation exchange capacity (CEC), low organic C content and the availability of elements such as N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and Mo are relatively low (Kaya 2009; Yuwono 2009). Input technology is needed to improve the quality of Ultisols by using soil amendments, such as biochar, which is a soil enhancer that has been known for a long time. The origin material of biochar is derived from agricultural and forestry waste that has undergone incomplete combustion (pyrolysis) in order to obtain charcoal containing activated carbon to be applied to the soil (Nurida et al 2009; Lehmann and Joseph 2009)
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