Sa’adah Shofiati, Gabryna Auliya Nugroho, Zaenal Kusuma, Syahrul Kurniawan
The low nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) in sandy soils, due to high porosity and poor nutrient retention, necessitates proper management in fertilization. This study aims to evaluate the effect of biochar-coated urea (BCU) with different coating thicknesses and nitrogen doses on soil nitrogen content, nitrogen uptake, NUE, growth, and yield of sweet corn in sandy soil. The experiment used a factorial randomized block design with two factors, including biochar coating thicknesses (i.e., 14% and 29%) and fertilization doses (i.e., 50%, 100%, 150%, 200%, and 250%). The results showed that the 29% biochar coating thickness led to 9.9–21.3% higher plant height, N uptake, and N-use efficiency, but it led to 22.8% lower yield, as compared to the 14% biochar coating thickness. Additionally, the application of BCU doses of 100% and 150% (~161 and 241.5 kg N/ha) led to 9.2–97.3% higher maize growth, yield, N uptake, and NEU as compared to the other doses (i.e., 50%, 100%, 250%). This study confirmed that the combination of a 29% biochar coating thickness with 150% of the recommended BCU dose (~241.5 kg N/ha) was the best combination, resulting in the highest N uptake, growth, and yield of maize. © 2025 by the authors.
Soil and Water Management Study Program, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 65145, Indonesia; Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
