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Pak. J. Bot., 47(3): 1023-1031, 2015. |
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Updated: 23-06-15 | ||||
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BIOCHAR: A NOVEL TOOL TO ENHANCE WHEAT PRODUCTIVITY AND SOIL FERTILITY ON SUSTAINABLE BASIS UNDER WHEAT-MAIZE-WHEAT CROPPING PATTERN
K. ALI1*, M. ARIF1, M.T. JAN1, T. YASEEN2, M. WAQAS1 AND F. MUNSIF1
Abstract: The application of organic matter is an important element for preserving long-term soil fertility because it is the reservoir of metabolic energy, which drives soil biological processes involved in nutrient availability. Two years field experiments were conducted for the assessment of the interactive effect of biochar with synthetic fertilizer and farmyard manure. Biochar application at the rate of 25 t ha-1 increased spikes m-2 by 6.64%, grains spike-1 by 5.6%, thousand grain weight by 3.73, grain yield by 9.96%, biological yield by 15.36%, phosphorus use efficiency by 29.03% and grain phosphorus uptake by 19.67% in comparison with no biochar treated plots. Likewise, biochar application significantly increased soil carbon(C), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) by 54.02, 61.39 and 18.41%, respectively. Similarly, farmyard manure at the rate of 10 t ha-1 resulted in significantly higher yield components, grain yield, soil C, P and K than 5 t ha-1 . Likewise, mineral nitrogen application at the rate of 120 kg ha-1 improved wheat yield and yield components with no significant effect on soil C, P and K contents. It is concluded that application biochar either alone or in combination with FYM or mineral nitrogen improved yield and yield components of wheat and soil quality in wheat-maize cropping pattern.
Key words: Biochar, Nitrogen, Grain yield, Phosphorus use efficiency.
1Department of Agronomy, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan 2Department of Botany, Peshawar University, Peshawar, Pakistan *Correspondence author: kawsar@aup.edu.pk |
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