Biochar-based fertilizer from binunga (Macaranga tanarius) on the growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) / by Zia D. Mohamed, Ghwen Angela R. Vinzon, Chris Phillippe C. Cabacas, Klark D. Villarete, & Joel Victor S. Villaruel.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of biochar-based fertilizer from Binunga (Macaranga tanarius) on the growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum). Inorganic fertilizers cause harmful effects on the environment when used excessively, thus several studies suggest that combining biochar with inorganic fertilizer, such as 14-14-14 NPK fertilizer results in better crop production and environmental health. However, several underutilized biomasses have not been thoroughly explored, such as Binunga (Macaranga tanarius) providing this an opportunity to discover its usage. A Complete Randomized Design (CRD) was applied, with four treatments varying in amounts of biochar with uniform 14-14-14 NPK fertilizer. Soil composition was analyzed regarding pH level, nutrients, carbon, and moisture content. Plant growth was measured in terms of plant height, length of the longest leaf, and leaf count. The data was analyzed using One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) in Statistical Tool for Agricultural Research (STAR) with p < 0.05. The results showed that p-value was greater than 0.05, which revealed that there is no significant difference among the plant growth parameters in all treatments. Thus, the null hypothesis was not rejected. Additionally, soil pH, potassium, and moisture content increased, while nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon levels decreased. Several factors may have influenced these results, including the environmental conditions, soil, Binunga composition, amount of treatments, duration of the experiment, NPK fertilizer, biochar properties and production. Therefore, biochar-based fertilizer from Binunga (Macaranga tanarius) was not effective in enhancing the growth of bell pepper (Capsicum annuum).

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