Author(s):

SP Vista and Asmita Khadka

Abstract: A series of experiments were carried out under laboratory and green house condition in Soil Science Division (SSD), NARC, Khumaltar during 2016 to 2017 with an objective to find out the preferable concentration of biochar for earthworm persistence and for optimum growth of vegetable crop. The specific objective of this research was to find out the appropriate amount of biochar for optimum germination, crop growth and profound microbial activities. For this research, 7 different doses of biochar as treatments viz. 0 ton/ha i.e. control (T1), 5 ton ha-1 (T2), 10 ton ha-1 (T3), 20 ton ha-1 (T4), 30 ton ha-1 (T5), 40 ton ha-1 (T6) and 50 ton ha-1 (T7) were used each replicated 3 times. The cultivars used were German variety of cress and Hong Kong F1 variety of Chinese cabbage @ 10 seeds per pot of each. For earthworm avoidance test, 10 earthworms (Eisenia foetida) were used per treatment. Earthworm population after 72 hours was counted. Data pertaining to different parameters of earthworm movement and plant growth like number of plants, germination rate, etc. were measured and statistically analyzed and Soil samples were collected and analyzed. The obtained result showed that the treatments were significantly different for every parameter except germination % and number of plants of Cress. 30 ton ha-1 was found to have most significant effect in earthworm persistence and in most of the cases. Similarly findings of this research showed that biochar has great effect on change in soil properties like pH, organic carbon, Phosphorous but is highly effective in increment of potassium content. However the nitrogen content was found to have decreased to a great extent. Therefore, 30 ton ha-1 of biochar was found to be most satisfactory for overall observed parameters and earthworm persistence but excessive dose of biochar is not beneficial for earthworm and vegetable crops.

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