Vol. 12, Issue 10 (2023)

Author(s):
Akanksha V Kasadiwar, GS Laharia, NR Navghare, AB Age and SO Hote

Abstract:
The fertility quality of the soil declines when chemical fertilizers are applied in excess. The best strategy to restore its fertility is to use less chemical fertilizer and encourage the use of organic manures, such as FYM, vermicompost, biochar, etc. We explore "Effect of biochar on soil properties and yield of maize grown in vertisol" in a field experiment that was carried out during Kharif, 2021–2022, on the Research Farm, Department of Agronomy, Dr. PDKV, Akola. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with eight treatments and replicated three times. The treatments includes of control, various levels of nitrogen and their combinations with 2.5 and 5.0 t ha^-1 biochar. On the basis of results obtained, significantly higher grain (48.53 q ha^-1) and straw (77.35 q ha^-1) yield of maize were recorded with the application of 125% RDN + Biochar 5.0 t ha^-1. Soil physical and chemical properties like bulk density (1.51 Mg m^-3), water holding capacity (57.35%), organic carbon (6.48 g kg^-1), available nitrogen (254.42 kg ha^-1), phosphorus (22.65 kg ha^-1) and potassium (387 kg ha^-1) in soil after harvest of maize were observed significantly higher with the application of 125% RDN + Biochar 5 t ha^-1. Whereas there was no significant result of various treatments on electrical conductivity and pH of the soil. Higher application rate of biochar recorded slight increase in micronutrients contain (Zn, Cu, Fe and Mn) but were found non-significant by various treatments in the biochar applied soil. Higher the dose of biochar applied, higher the SOC stock (19.60 Mg ha^-1) was recorded. From the present investigation, it can be concluded that, the soil application of 100% RDN + Biochar 5 t ha^-1 beneficially influenced the yield of maize as well as enhance the soil properties.