The role of biochar and organic fertilizers on the growth and yields of soybean

Abstract

The low production of domestic soybeans is due to the decreasing amount of productive land, so the cultivation of soybeans can be done by utilizing dry land. One type of dryland soil is grumusol soil, which is a less fertile soil and requires improvement through and applying biochar and organic fertilizers. Biochar is expected to increase water availability, thereby increasing nutrient absorption. The research was conducted by experiment with a randomized completed block design (RCBD) two-factor treatment. The treatments are biochar (without biochar as control, biochar of coconut shell, rice husk, and Strobilanthes cusia waste) and organic fertilizer (without fertilizer as control, chicken, cow, and goat manure). Each combination treatment, as an experiment unit, was replicated three times. The results showed that the types of biochar and organic fertilizer do not affect the growth and yield of soybeans. The application of types of biochar alone does not affect the soybean yield, but the various organic fertilizers alone can increase the yield of soybeans. Cow organic fertilizer was able to increase the total pods (31.68%), the number of seeds per plant (29.33%), and the stuffed pods (24.11%).