College of Agriculture & Natural Resource

URI for this communityhttps://rps.wku.edu.et/handle/123456789/45803

College of Agriculture & Natural Resource

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    SOIL PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES, GROWTH AND YIELD OF BEETROOT (Beta vulgaris .L) AS AFFECTED BY BIOCHAR SOURCE AND RATE IN MESKAN DISTRICT, EASTERN GURAGE ZONE, CENTRAL ETHIOPIA
    (Wolkite University, 2023-01-30) WELYOU MOHAMMED BESHIR
    Biochar application has been widely suggested as a highly improving soil property and fertilityreplenishment option to promote sustainable agriculture. The biochar amendment in the soil has receivedmore study in recent times to reclaim soil property and improve productivity. This study aimed toinvestigate the interaction effects of different sources (coffee husk, maize cob, and Enset leaf) and rates(0, 5, 7.5 and 10 t ha-1) of biochar on soil chemical properties (pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organiccarbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), and available phosphorus (Av. P) cation exchange capacity (CEC),growth (plant height, leaf (number, length and area), and yield (beet diameter, weight per (plant and pot)of beetroot at Meskan District. A factorial pot experiment was conducted at the greenhouse, and theexperiment was set up using a completely randomized design (CRD) with four levels of biochar and threetypes of biochar sources and replicated three. The ANOVA result indicates that a significant variationwas observed at P<0.05 among the interaction effects of source and rate of biochar on soil chemicalproperties like (pH, EC, OC, TN, and Av. P and CEC). The result of the analysis of variance specifiesthat pH and EC show a significant difference at p<0.05 among the interactions of source and rate ofbiochar. The highest values of soil pH and EC were 7.69±0.075 and 0.25±0.008 μm cm-1) respectivelyand the lowest was recorded in the control (6.46±0.075, 0.06±0.008μm cm-1) respectively. The ANOVAresults also state that a significantly varied value was recorded within the interaction effect of differentsources and rates of biochar on OC, OM, TN, Av.p., and CEC, and the highest value of OC, OM, TN,Av.p., and CEC was (7.93±0.15%, 13.68±0.29%, 0.76±0.01%, 21.5±0.49cmol. Kg-1and40.36±0.48mgkg-1) respectively and the lowest value (2.29±0.15%, 3.92±0.29%, 0.17±0.01%, 13.84±0.49mg kg-1 and28.68±0.48 cmol.Kg-1) respectively was recorded as untreated treatment. The ANOVA result alsoindicates that a significant variation was observed (P<0.05) among the interaction effects of source andrate of biochar on growth and yield of beetroot, like plant height, number of leaves per plant, leaf areaand length, beet diameter, and beet weight per plant and per pot. The result of analysis of variance tableshows a significant variation in height. The highest value of plant height at the three growth stages was(25day, 50day and harvest) (18.56±0.67, 34.58±0.3and36.97±0.91 cm) respectively and the lowest valueof plant height was (14.85±0.67, 25.88±0.3 and 35.43±0.91 cm), respectively, were recorded in control.Similarly, ANOVA showed that a significant difference value (P<0.001) resulted in a leaf (number, lengthand area) within the interaction effect of source and rate of biochar. The highest values were(19.66±0.48, 34.14± 0.26cm and 826.83±16cm-2), respectively, and the lowest value (17.66±0.48,29.04±0.26cm and 327.87±16cm2) resulted in untreated soil. Likewise, a significant variation wasobtained (P<0.001) on beet (diameter, weight per plant and pot) within the interaction of the source andthe rate of biochar. The maximum value of (beet (diameter, weight per plant and pot)) was(6.61±0.013cm, 482.67±3.05g and 1458.33±10.91g) respectively, and the minimum value was(5.78±0.013cm, 343±3.05g, and 1062±10.91g) was recorded within the control. The economic analysisresult shows the highest net benefit was 1012,725,480 ETB ha-1 obtained at soil treated with 7.5 t ha-1Enset leaf biochar with an additional gain of, 21596% from every Birr invested .Finally, the studyconcludes that the interaction effects of different sources and the rate of biochar show a significantvariation among soil chemical properties, growth and yield of beetroot in a pot experiment. Futurestudies should articulate the study's need for additional biochar sources by increasing the rate over along period on research stations and farmers' fields in locations with diverse management practices.