Effects of Biochar and Sb16 on Soil Quality and Growth of Sweet Corn

There has been an increasing interest in biochar research as soil amendments to improve soil properties leading to improve most of plant growth in a sustainable agriculture. Tropical soils are mostly infertile soil that affects soil quality and plant growth. The main characteristics of tropical soils are acidic soils and have low fertility. In addition, this soil has low pH, cation exchange capacity, low microbial populations, and poor soil enzyme activity that are essential for soil properties and plant growth. The amount of N present in acidic soil is extremely small to provide the productivity of agricultural systems and responsible for the decomposition of organic matter. The beneficial soil free living N2-fixing bacteria that supply some nutrients in a form that plants can absorb easily from the soil and improve plant growth can die of nutrient deficiency in tropical soil. In Malaysia, the production of corn is unsatisfactory and needs to be increased by way of using proper fertilizer and other inputs. From this project, application of oil palm empty fruit bunch biochar with N2-fixing bacteria into soil can be an alternative to improve soil quality and growth of sweet corn.