RESPONSE OF BIOCHAR ON SOIL PROPERTIES AND YIELD OF SESAME

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the research plot of the Department of Agronomy, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the period from March, 2017 to June, 2017 to study response of biochar on soil properties and on the growth and yield of sesame. In the experiment, the treatment consisted of three varieties, viz., V 1 = BARI Til2,

V 2 = BARI Til-3, V 3 = BARI Til-4 and five levels of biochar viz., B 0 = control (no biochar application), B 1 = application of biochar 2 t ha -1 , B 1 = application of biochar 4 t ha -1 , B 1 = application of biochar 6 t ha -1 , B 1 = application of biochar 8 t ha . The experiment was laid out in a two factors randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Variety, application of different levels of biochar and their interaction showed statistically significant variation in plant height, number of leaves plant -1 at 55 days after sowing (DAS), 80 DAS and at harvest, capsules plant , seeds capsule -1 , 1000 seeds weight, grain yield, stover yield, biological yield and harvest index. Effect of variety on pH, organic carbon (OC%), N content in soil is insignificant. Effect of application of different levels of biochar on pH, (OC%), N, P and K content in soil are significant. Interaction effect of variety and biochar application on N, P and K content in soil are significant but soil pH and (OC%) are insignificant. The highest plant height (70.34, 110.95 and 109.84 cm), number of leaves plant -1 (80.47, 116.70 and 94.54) at 55, 80 DAS and at harvest was observed in the variety BARI Til-4 cultivated with application of biochar 6 t ha -1 (V 3 × B 3 ) and the lowest was observed in variety BARI Til-2 with no biochar application (V 1 × B 0 ). The highest number of capsules plant -1 , number of seeds capsule -1 and weight of 1000 seeds was observed in the variety BARI Til-4 cultivated with application of biochar 6 t ha -1 (V 3 × B 3 ) and the lowest was found variety BARI Til-2 with no biochar application (V 1 × B 0 ). Variety V 3 (BARI Til4)

gave the highest yield (1.01 t ha -1 ) and harvest index(HI) (35.15 %), whereas, the lowest seed yield (0.88 t ha -1 ) and HI (27.66 %) was observed in variety V 1 (BARI Til2). The highest grain yield (1.03 t ha -1 ) and HI (33.40 %) was recorded in B 3 (biochar 6 t ha -1 ) the lowest grain yield (0.85 t ha -1 ) and HI (30.43%) was achieved by B 0 (no biochar application). The highest seed yield (1.07 t ha -1 ) and HI (36.46%) was observed in the variety BARI Til-4 cultivated with application of biochar 6 t ha -1 (V 3 × B 3 ). The lowest seed yield (0.75 t ha -1 ) and HI (25.78%) was observed variety BARI Til-2 with no biochar application (V 0 × B 0 ). The highest soil pH (6.09), organic carbon (0.70%), total nitrogen (0.073 %), available phosphorus (29.29 µg g -1 ) and exchangeable potassium (0.40 meq 100 g -1 ) was recorded in B 0 and the lowest soil pH (5.84), total nitrogen (0.039 %), available phosphorus (14.52 µg g -1 ) and exchangeable potassium (0.23 meq 100 g -1 ) was achieved in B 0 . The highest available phosphorus (30.35 µg g ) and exchangeable potassium (0.41 meq 100 g -1 ) was observed in BARI Til-2 cultivated with application of biochar 8 t ha -1 (V 1 × B 4 ). In respect of seed yield and soil properties BARI Til-4 cultivated with application of biochar 6 t ha -1 was suitable compared to other treatment combinations.