Effect of biochar on performance of improved maize varieties

Abstract

The current maize production, productivity and quality have stagnated due to several biotic and abiotic factors. Among the abiotic factors, Soil fertility loss has led to drastic yield reduction during maize production. This study therefore sought to determine the effect of biochar on performance of different maize varieties. An experiment was conducted for one season at Arapai campus in a randomized complete block design. Different maize varieties were planted under the same rate of biochar application and without biochar. Data was collected on germination, plant growth in terms of Plant height, leaf number and yield parameters which included the cob weight, and grain weight. The results of the study revealed that biochar had no significant (p>0.05) effect on germination of the selected varieties of maize, but leaf numbers were significantly affected with UH5051 (14 leaves) and Bazooka (13 leaves) performing best as also seen in their control (13 leaves and 12 leaves respectively), Longe 5 and Longe 10H, had the least leaf numbers at 12 leaves each and 11 leaves each in control while in plant height, Longe10H ( 157.6cm) and Bazooka (152.70cm) while in control 151.5 and 147.5cm respectively performed best . In terms of the final grain yield, the study found significant differences in the grain yield of different varieties with significantly the highest grain yield obtained in variety UH5051 and Bazooka with 3804 Kg/Ha and 3733 Kg/Ha under biochar while in control, 2251kg/ha and 2250kg/ha was recorded, this clearly showed how much biochar influenced the yield of these varieties, this was after running a paired T-test analysis. The significantly lowest grain weight was obtained in varieties Longe 10H (2489kg/ha) and Longe 5 (2695kg/ha) as well as control with 2051kg/ha and 2151kg/ha respectively. From the results of this study, it may be concluded that biochar positively affects the growth and yield of maize varieties. The number of leaves, plant height of different varieties was significantly affected by biochar. Meanwhile germination was not significantly affected the biochar. In terms of yield and other yield parameters, cob weights, and grain yields were highest in UH5051 and B but lowest in Longe 5 and this makes varieties UH5051 and Bazooka to be the best for production under application of biochar. Even though biochar had significant effect on the growth and yield of different maize verities, there is need for more studies to be conducted on the different levels of biochar in relation to many varieties to determine how each variety performs under different levels.