Screening of Cultivatable Indigenous Fungi which Responsible for Decomposing of Rice Straw

Abstract

Mining causes destructive soil properties, especially soil texture, water retention, and transmission. Applying biochar is the best way to improve soil physical properties. A glasshouse experiment was conducted to evaluate the role of biochar on soil physical properties based on a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with four replicates. The research comprised six treatments (0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 t biochar ha -1 ). The results showed that the ex-gold-mined soil had coarse soil texture (sandy loam), high Bulk Density (BD) (1.43 g cm -3 ), low Total Soil Pores (TSP) (46.45%), low soil organic matter (SOM) content (1.27 %), very fast hydraulic conductivity (198.8 cm h -1 ). After biochar incubation, SOM increased (to 3.11%), soil BD decreased (to 1.16 g cm -3 ), TSP increased (to 54.17 %), water retention increased (at pF 1.0, 2.0, 2.54, and 4.2), plant available water (PAW) increased (into 8.33 %), and hydraulic conductivity decreased (into 24.70 cm h -1 ). However, applying 20 t biochar ha -1 still needs to bring the soil physical properties of the ex-gold-mined soil back into suitable soil for farming land.