Volume 11, Issue 24, July - December 2025

Soil fertility and plantain productivity enhancement using potassium-rich biochar and woodash source

Ayodeji Adeyemi Ogunwole^1♦, Oluwayemisi Dorcas Ogunwole², Victor Segun Samuel³, Samuel Ohikhaena Agele⁴

¹Department of Biological Sciences, College of Natural and Applied Science, Wesley University, Ondo, Nigeria.
²Department of Agricultural Economics and Farm Management, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Ilorin Kwara State, Nigeria.
³Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Ilorin Kwara State, Nigeria
⁴Department of Crop, Soil and Pest Management, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding author
Ayodeji Adeyemi Ogunwole, Department of Biological Science, Wesley University, PMB 507, Ondo, Ondo State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Soil fertility depletion in Nigeria has spurred the search for effective soil fertilization strategies to support optimal plantain productivity. This study assessed wood-ash (WA) and biochar (BC) as natural potassium (K) fertilizer sources to enhance soil fertility and the performance of 'agbagba' plantain (Musa paradisiaca L.). The study evaluated the combined and separate effects of BC and WA fertilization on soil properties, plantain growth and yield, sucker multiplication, phenology, and proximate composition. Treatments included single applications of 2 kg WA or 2 kg BC, combined applications of 2 kg WA + 2 kg BC or 1 kg WA + 1 kg BC, and an unfertilized control. Approximately 200 kg/ha of NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer was incorporated into all treatments and the control as a nitrogen supplement. The study revealed that WA and BC, applied individually or in combination, act as natural K fertilizers, increasing soil available K by over 298%. This improvement fostered a strong interaction between the soil amendments and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), promoting the production of beneficial plant hormones like cytokinin and auxin. The resulting increases in leaf and sucker counts, leaf area, chlorophyll content, relative water content, early flowering and maturity, bunch and cluster weights, number of clusters per bunch, and fingers per cluster, alongside finger length and diameter, were attributed to improved soil availability of K, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, organic matter/carbon, porosity, and pH, and a decrease in soil bulk density. The effects on soil and plantain productivity were greater with WA than BC, and with combined fertilization compared to sole fertilization. Furthermore, both sole and combined treatments showed a greater positive impact on the ratoon crop compared to the parent crop.

Keywords: Yield; Metabolic Energy value; Cytokinin; Ratoon; Sucker; Carbohydrate; Chlorophyll, Protein; Leaf Area

Discovery Agriculture, 2025, 11, e17da3149

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Published: 27 September 2025