Biochar amendment improves soil fertility and productivity of mulberry plant

Abstract

Biochar has the potential to improve soil fertility and crop productivity. A fieldexperiment was carried out at the experimental field of Bangladesh SericultureResearch and Training Institute (BSRTI), Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The objective of thisstudy was to examine the effect of biochar on soil properties, growth, yield and foliardisease incidence of mulberry plant. The study consisted of 6 treatments: control, basaldose of NPK, rice husk biochar, mineral enriched biochar, basal dose + rice huskbiochar and basal dose + mineral enriched biochar. Growth parameters such asnode/meter, total branch number/plant, total leaf yield/hectare/year weresignificantly increased in basal dose + mineral enriched biochar treated plot in secondyear compared with the other fertilizer treatments. In second year, the total leafyield/hectare/year were also 142.1% and 115.9% higher in combined application ofbasal dose + mineral enriched biochar and basal dose + rice husk biochar, respectively,than the control treatment. The soil properties such as organic matter, phosphorus,sulphur and zinc percentage were significantly increased with both the (mineralenriched and rice husk) biochar treated soil applied with or without recommendedbasal dose of NPK than the control and only the recommended basal dose of NPK,respectively. Further, the lowest incidences of tukra (6.4%), powdery mildew (10.4%)and leaf spot (7.6%) disease were observed in second year under mineral enrichedbiochar treated plot than the others. The findings revealed that utilization of biocharhas positive effect on the improvement of soil fertility and productivity as well asdisease suppression of mulberry plant.