engleski

Combined Use of Spent Mushroom Substrate Biochar and PGPR Improves Growth, Yield, and Biochemical Response of Cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis): A Preliminary Study on Greenhouse Cultivation

This paper investigated the impact of the combined use of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) biochar and plant-growth-promoting rhizobia (PGPR) on the growth, yield, and biochemical response of cauliflower (Brassica oleracea var. botrytis). Pot experiments were conducted using six treatments (sextuplicate) such as control (no addition), T1 (PGPR), T2 (5 g/Kg biochar), T3 (5 g/Kg biochar + PGPR), T4 (10 g/Kg biochar), and T5 (10 g/Kg biochar + PGPR) under greenhouse conditions. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM-Zeiss), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), and Fourier’s transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses showed that biochar produced from slow pyrolysis of SMS had advantageous structural, functional, and morphological properties for agricultural use. Results showed that SMS biochar addition was helpful to accelerate the soil nutrient properties. Moreover, SMS biochar and PGPR application significantly (p < 0.05) improved the selected growth, yield, and biochemical parameters of cauliflower. In particular, the highest cauliflower yield (550.11 ± 10.05 g), fresh plant biomass (1.66 ± 0.04 Kg), dry plant biomass (149.40 ± 4.18 g), plant height (22.09 ± 0.14 cm), root length (11.20 ± 0.05 cm), plant spread (28.35 ± 0.18 cm), and the number of leaves (12.50 ± 0.50) were observed in T5 treatment. Similarly, the best values for biochemical parameters and enzyme activities such as total chlorophyll (3.13 ± 0.07 mg/g), superoxide dismutase (SOD: 79.12 ± 1.29 µg/g), catalase (CAT: 55.70 ± 2.52 µg/g), peroxidase (POD 30.18 ± 0.37 µg/g), total phenolics (TP: 19.50 ± 0.31 mg/g), ascorbic acid (AA: 14.18 ± 0.55 mg/g), and total carotenoids (150.17 ± 8.20 µg/100g) were also recorded in the T5 treatment. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that SMS biochar and PGPR application had a positive correlation with the growth, yield, and biochemical response of cauliflower. The findings of this study suggest efficient recycling of mushroom industry waste for biochar production while the use of PGPR to improve nutrient utilization in sustainable agriculture.

agro-waste recycling ; biochar ; growth promotion ; mushroom waste ; sustainable horticulture

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