Effect of Three Types of Charred Biomass on Growth and Yield of Capsicum annum

Abstract

Organic materials have the potential to improve soil qualities. A field experiment was carried out to Find the response of Capsicum annum for three types of charred biomass namely coconut char (CC), palmyrah char (PC), and paddy husk char (PHC) in combination with organic and inorganic fertilizers. A Randomized Complete Block design was used with three blocks and eight treatments. The treatments were department of agriculture (DOA) recommended fertilizer (DRF), farmers' practice fertilizer (FPF) (3 to 4 times higher inorganic fertilizer thaif DRF) of and each three types of charred biomass with either DRF or FPF. About 22 % and 42 % yield increase was observed in T, (DRF+CC) and T2 (DRF+PC), respectively compared to T4 (DRF). However, T3 (DRF+PHC) did not show significant difference in yield compared to T4 (DRF). Similarly, about 35 %, 46 % and 66 % increase in yield was found in Ts (FPF+CC), T6 (FPF+PC) and T7 (FPF+PHC) respectively compared to T8 (FPF). Palmyrah char had higher potential to increase yield when applied with DRF while PHC performed best when applied with farmer practice fertilizer. Moreover, PHC did not have any effect on yield when applied with DRF. However, CC and PC had the potential to increase yield with both DRF and FPF. Results therefore indicate that though charred biomass has the potential to increase yield the effect depend on both the type of charred biomass and fertilizers.