The application of biochar in improving the nutrition quality and production of sorghum plant

Abstract

The current condition of agricultural land in Indonesia, both wetlands and highlands, have low organic matter. The role of biochar to increase crop productivity is influenced by the amount of biochar added. Sorghum is a plant that can be used from stems, leaves, and fruit as animal feed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the productivity and nutritional content of sorghum given biochar with different doses. This research is a one-factor experiment with the simple randomized block design. The treatments tested were biochar doses with 6 dose levels, namely: P0 (without biochar), P1 (3 ton ha-1), P2 (6 ton ha-1), P3 (9 ton ha-1), P4 (12 ton ha-1) and P5 (15 ton ha-1). Plant variables observed were the number of leaves and plant height, fresh forage production, dry matter production, and seed production per hectare, as well as the nutritional quality of sorghum such as crude protein, crude fiber, ash content, and dry matter content. The results showed that there was no significant effect on the variable number of leaves and plant height, crude protein, crude fiber, ash content, and forage, but significantly affected the variables of fresh forage production, dry matter production and grain yield per hectare. From this study, it can be concluded that the application of biochar dosage 9 ton ha-1 provides the best results for the production of fresh forage, dry material production and seed production per hectare.