Biochar Application on Spodosols Soils Promotes Higher Plant Growth and Survival Rate

Abstract

Interests in biochar applications for improving soil properties and fertility are increasing worldwide, and numerous production techniques, raw materials, and application options are now available. This research aimed to investigate the effects of biochar application on growth rate (height, stem diameter, leaf number, and survival) performance of Anthocephalus cadamba seedling planted on degraded Spodosols on bioassay trial in the nursery. Bioassay trial was carried out in Forestry Faculty of Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia. It followed Completely Randomized Design (CRD) applying six levels of treatments, i.e., 0, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 100%v of biochar, and three replications. The 100%v biochar treatment was aimed at investigating the potential of applying biochar for primary media in raising seedlings in the nursery as the replacement of the conventional media. Of those six levels of treatments, the 10%v biochar treatment gave the best height growth at p = 0.05, and 25%v showed the best stem diameter growth but not statistically significant. Even though it was not statistically significant, low-level biochar application (up to 5%v) on spodosols soils improved plant survival. Based on the results of this preliminary on the effect of biochar application on plant growth and survival on spodosols soils, it is concluded that: (1) the application of biochar on such soils might be promising and (2) the development of biochar as main media for raising seedling in nursery might also be beneficial.

Ameliorant application promotes growth performances of Calliandra calothyrsus Meissn. planted on post-coal mining land

“…At the end of the observation period, only plants treated with M 3 media showed an average diameter significantly larger than another soil ameliorant (M1, M2) and (Table 3). Similar results were seen in the reduced high growth rate of Anthocephalus cadamba plants with greater biochar applications (25%v and 100%) [55]. This may be because microorganisms consuming volatile elements in biochar are responsible for nutrient immobilization [57,58].…”

“…At the end of the study, Table 2 shows how many plants were still alive. Research in nursery shows a high survival rate (>90%) due to the provision of soil ameliorant that include biochar and other organic soil ameliorant [51][52][53][54][55]. However, the survival percentage in this trial was not particularly encouraging, despite being in the favorable category (50% -75%) [56].…”

“…Like plant diameter, only M3-treated media had a higher average plant height growth than unimproved soil (M1) at 6 months following replanting. The lower height of plants treated with M2 soil improvers compared to those without soil improvers is likely the same as in the case of plant diameter [55,57,58]. In contrast to its effect on plant diameter, the application of soil ameliorant has no statistically significant influence on plant height.…”

Enriched biochar enhances height growth performance of Anthocephalus cadamba on severely degraded Spodosols in East Kalimantan

“…Native to Kalimantan, Anthocephalus cadamba is a quick-growing species called locally as "Kelapayan" and found in secondary forest, along riverbanks, swampy, and occasionally inundated places. For successful crop production on Spodosols, organic soil amendments and plant nutrients are required since it grows well on wet soils but poorly on deficient soils [11,12,13].…”

“…Chitin, humic and fulvic acids, as well as other biopolymers found in liquid organic fertilizers, can also act as biostimulants on plants [18,19]. It has been demonstrated that adding biochar that has been enhanced with liquid organic fertilizer improves A. cadamba's growth performance in pot experiments with spodosols [8,13]. This study looked at the effects of applying biochar in combination with liquid organic fertilizers on the height growth of A. cadamba, which was grown in the field on degraded Spodosol soil.…”