Enhancing Sweet Corn Growth and Yield through the Integrated Application of Bioneensis Biofertilizer and Rice Husk Biochar

Abstract

Sweet corn is an essential agricultural product in Indonesia and contributes to national food security. Consequently, numerous strategies can be implemented to increase the yield of sweet corn, such as intensified fertilization. While organic fertilizers like biofertilizers and biochar have shown potential to enhance crop growth, their combined effects on sweet corn, particularly under Indonesian conditions, are understudied. This study seeks to assess the synergistic impact of biogenesis biofertilizer and rice husk biochar on the growth and production of sweet corn in an Indonesian agroecological context. In this study, two treatment parameters were compromised by the factorial Randomized Block Design (RBD): 1. Bioneensis biofertilizer, which was formulated into four distinct levels. B0 = No Bioneensis Biofertilizer (served as a control), B1 = Bioneensis Biofertilizer 571 kg/ha (10 g/planting holes), B2 = Bioneensis Biofertilizer 1,142 tons/ha (20 g/planting holes), B3 = Bioneensis Biofertilizer 1,713 ton/ha (30 g/planting holes); and 2. The dosage factor of rice husk biochar (P) comprises four values, specifically: P0 = No Biochar (0 kg/plot), P1 = Biochar 5 tonnes/ha (0.5 kg/plot), P2 = Biochar 10 tonnes/ha (1 kg/plot), P3 = Biochar 15 tonnes/ha (1.5 kg/plot). The findings of this research indicate that the use of biogenesis biological fertilizers significantly affects plant height and stem diameter. However, the utilization of this fertilizer does not produce a noticeable effect on leaf quantity, leaf colour, cob weight with husks per sample, cob weight per plot, cob weight without husks per sample, or cob weight without husks per plot. Conversely, the utilization of rice husk biochar markedly affected the growth and yield of sweet corn, including parameters such as plant height, stem diameter, leaf quantity, cob weight with husks per plot and cob weight without husks per plot. Nonetheless, it did not substantially influence leaf colour, cob weight with husks per sample, or cob weight without husks per sample. Hence, this study suggests that integrating biogenesis biofertilizer and rice husk biochar holds promise for improving sweet corn productivity.