Combined Effect of Woodchips and Biochar for Sweet Corn (Zea mays) Production: Productivity and Economic Efficiency of Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

Biochar addition in soil has already been recognized as a promising technology as it contributes to improve the soil quality, crop yield, and mitigate climate change. This study intended to evaluate the combined effects of woodchips and biochar on soil quality, crop productivity, and economics of sweet corn production. The experiment was conducted in the experimental field of Shimane University, Matsue, Shimane, Japan during the period from 9th May 2019 to 24th July 2019. The experiment was laid out in a randomized block design with three replications and it consisted of six treatments namely, T1 – woodchips +Organic fertilizer (OF), T2 – woodchips + OF + Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) + Gliocladium fungi (GF), T3 – woodchips + biochar + OF, T4 – woodchips + biochar + OF + AMF + GF, T5 – biochar + OF, and C (control) – OF. Results revealed that combined application of woodchips, biochar, and OF at teatment (T3) obtained the highest corn yield (0.796 kg/m2), stalk length (130 cm), water holding capacity (52%), gross margin (56.03%), and benefit-cost ratio (1.81) whereas the lowest yield (0.026 kg/m2), stalk length (51cm), water holding capacity (21.66%), gross margin (-908%), and benefit-cost ratio (0.07) were obtained at control. Soil mineral concentrations of N (33.49 mg/100g), P (14.40 mg/100g), K (21.33 mg/100g), and Ca (49.33 mg/100g) were highest in T4 where as the second highest values was recorded in T3. Another notable significant result is that the sweet corn grown in all treatments contained small amount of nitrate (6.66 mg/L) as compared to conventional practice (83.33 mg/L). Furthermore, this new approach is able to achieve significant crop yield on existing land without using any pesticides, fertilizers, or other agricultural chemicals consequently has no adverse environmental impact and thus could be a sustainable approach. Therefore, it can be concluded that combined application of woodchips, and biochar appears as a suitable combination in terms of soil quality, crop productivity, and economics of sweet corn production.