Response of <I>Amaranthus cruentus</I> to biochar combined with urea fertilizer in Calabar, Nigeria
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Abstract
A pot experiment was carried out in the screen house of the University of Calabar Teaching and Research Farm to determine the responses of Amaranthus cruentus to biochar combined with urea fertilizer. Eight treatments which comprised the control (no amendment), sole applied biochar (B) at 20 t/ha, sole urea (U) at 60 kg N/ha, ½ B + ½ U, ¾ B + ¼ U, ¼ B + ¾ U, Full B + ½ U and ½ B + Full U were laid out in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three replications. The experimental soil was loamy sand witha pH of 5.1. The combination of biochar with urea significantly (p < 0.05) increased plant growth, root growth, fresh shoot yield, nutrient concentration and crude protein contents in Amaranthus more than when biochar is singly applied. The highest shoot yield of 3578 kg/ha was obtained from the combination of 5 t/ha biochar + 45 kg/ N/ha urea (¼B + ¾U) followed by urea alone (60 kg N/ha) treated plants whereas the highest crude protein content in Amaranthus plant was from urea alone treated plants. However, based on the significant response of Amaranthus in treated soils to applied amendments compared to untreated soil, it could be concluded that both the sole and combined treatments had positive effects on crop productivity.
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