Effect of Biochar Application on Performance of Rice in a Vertisol of Central India

The present investigation was carried out at the Research Farm of ICAR- Indian Institute of Soil Science (ICAR-IISS), Bhopal (M.P.) during the Kharif seasons of 2021 and 2022 and performance of rice crop under the application of biochar in combinations of farm yard manure and chemical fertilizers was studied. The field experiment consisted of 12 treatments involving three doses of biochar (0, 4 and 8 tha-1) with and without fertilizer (0 or 120:60:40 kg N, P2O5, K2O ha-1) and manure (0, 5 t ha-1) in four replications. Rice (cv. PB 1121) was grown consecutively for two years and various parameters viz., plant height, green seeker, number of tillers, earhead length, grains per earhead, seed index and grain yield, straw yield, total biomass and harvest index were evaluated. The results revealed that, among the parameters studied except harvest index, all parameters were influenced positively upon biochar application.