Rice-husk biochar for better yield of lowland rainfed rice in Lombok, Indonesia

Abstract

Biochar is one of soil amendment that less popular to apply on rice cultivation when compared to other horticulture commodieties in West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) Province. This study aimed to evalute the effect of rice husk biochar application on growth and yield of rice grown on lowland rainfed of WNT Province. Experiment was carried out from January to April 2017 at Narmada Research Station of AIAT (Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology) of WNT Province, Indonesia. Experimental design used was factorial complete randomized block design for two factors with three replications. The first factor was the application of organic fertilizer; (T1) control at 0 t/ha, (T2) cattle manure at 5 t/ha, (T3) cattle manure and biochar (50:50) at 5 t/ha. The second factor was rice varieties; (V1) Inpari 41 Tadah Hujan Agritan, (V2) Inpari 42 Agritan GSR, and (V3) Inpari 43 Agritan GSR. The results showed a significant interaction effect on above-ground (AGB) biomass where the highest AGB obtained in T3V3. Higher AGB was indicating better growth and it was likely contribute to higher grain yield that was found also at T3V3. Significant main effect of organic fertilizer were found on plant height, percentage of filled spikelet, and 1000 grain weight. Although there was no significance difference, in average, additional biochar in T3 improved grain yield to 6.47 t/ha, followed by T2 at 6.11 t/ha, and the lowest was T1 at 5.80 t/ha.Biochar is one of soil amendment that less popular to apply on rice cultivation when compared to other horticulture commodieties in West Nusa Tenggara (WNT) Province. This study aimed to evalute the effect of rice husk biochar application on growth and yield of rice grown on lowland rainfed of WNT Province. Experiment was carried out from January to April 2017 at Narmada Research Station of AIAT (Assessment Institute for Agricultural Technology) of WNT Province, Indonesia. Experimental design used was factorial complete randomized block design for two factors with three replications. The first factor was the application of organic fertilizer; (T1) control at 0 t/ha, (T2) cattle manure at 5 t/ha, (T3) cattle manure and biochar (50:50) at 5 t/ha. The second factor was rice varieties; (V1) Inpari 41 Tadah Hujan Agritan, (V2) Inpari 42 Agritan GSR, and (V3) Inpari 43 Agritan GSR. The results showed a significant interaction effect on above-ground (AGB) biomass where the highest AGB obtained in T3V3. Higher AG...