Title: Application of Compost and Biochar from Cow, Goat, and Chicken Manure to Restore Soil Fertility and Yield of Red Chili
Abstract: The application of compost and biochar derived from locally produced livestock waste has been shown to provide agricultural and environmental benefits. The study aimed to test the best combination of compost and biochar from various livestock wastes to increase red chili yields and restore soil fertility. A factorial randomized block design was used in this study. The first factor consists of 4 levels of compost, namely without compost, cow compost, goat manure compost, and chicken manure compost. The second factor consists of 4 levels: no biochar, cow biochar, goat manure biochar, and chicken manure biochar. Observations on all soil properties variables obtained a significant effect from the interaction of various types of compost and biochar in the content of sand, dust, clay, pH, fulvic acid, humic acid, N, P, CEC, and base saturation. The application of chicken compost, goat compost, and cow compost gave the highest fresh weight of chilies per ha, each increased by 37.73%, 27.40%, and 20.15% compared to without compost. The application of chicken biochar, goat biochar, and cow biochar produced the highest fresh weight of chili per ha. which increased by 27.04%, 16.18%, and 9.97%, respectively compared without biochar. Increased yield of chilies and restoration of soil fertility due to the interaction between compost and biochar can be proven by finding a significant correlation between the fresh weight of chilies and the total pore space, pH, C-organic, N-total, P-available, K-available, ratio C/N, and base saturation.