Abstract:
The study of the effects of biochar on rice product and sandy clay quality was conducted in the experimental plot size of 0.34 rai (542.5 sq.m.) at the Pa-deng Biochar Research Center (Pd-BRC), Padeng subdistrict, Kaeng Krachan, Phetchaburi. The experiment employed a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replicates and comprised four treatments: untreated soil (control group), soil incorporation of cow manure (1,600 Kg per rai), soil incorporation of biochar (1,600 Kg per rai) and soil incorporation of biochar and cow manure (1,600 Kg per rai). For the latter treatment, the mixture was in the ratio of 0.5 Kg of cow manure and 0.5 Kg of Biochar. There were two equal applications; once at two weeks before rice planting and subsequently at booting stage. There were two cultivars used in this experiment; Lueng (place scientific name here) and Nasarn (place scientific name here) which contributed to three rice samples; Lueng, Nasarn and the mixture of the two cultivars. Soil samples were collected before and during six growth stages of rice: 1) seedling, 2) tillering, 3) panicle initiation, 4) booting, 5) flowering and 6) grain maturation. The results showed that the soil properties such as pH, conductivity, organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC), Total Carbon, Total Nitrogen, Available Phosphorus, and Exchangeable Potassium increased significantly at a 95% confidence level. The results of yield and growth of rice such as height, dry weight (stem and root), number of rice stems per area, tillering, number of seeds per panicle, number of panicles per area, thousand grain weight and percentage of filled grain increased significantly at a 95% confidence level when applied the soil incorporation of biochar treatment. The results showed that the soil properties, yield and growth of rice increased even more when the soil incorporation of biochar and cow manure was applied. Moreover, comparing the yields of the two rice cultivars, it was found the Nasarn rice had a higher yield than the Lueng rice and the seed mixture