Assessment of Activated Charcoal and Phosphorus for Promoting Maize Production

The most continuous farming practice is the yearly addition of phosphorus fertilizers to soils in arid and semi-arid regions that all suffer from shortages of phosphorus availability. A vital approach is rationalizing applied fertilizers and trying to benefit from their reservoir in yearly-fertilized old soils using an activated charcoal-fertilizer mixture. Thus, a field experiment was conducted at a private farm in Mushtuhur, Toukh, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. This trial was set up to study the effect of phosphorus (P) fertilizer sources (phosphoric acid Ph.A and super phosphate S.Ph), the P application rates (P0=control, P1=50%, P2=75% and P3=100% of P requirements), activated charcoal (A.Ch) rates (A.Ch0=control, A.Ch1=1, A.Ch2=3 and A.Ch3=5 g/hole, corresponding to 41, 124, and 207 kg ha-1, respectively) and the interaction between them on promoting maize growth, production and its nutrient status. Generally, adding phosphorus improved plant height (m), dry grains (t ha-1), and ash yield (t ha-1) without a significant difference between all P rates. Phosphoric acid affects most studied parameters, mainly the biological, ear, and ash yield (t ha-1); it was the best compared with superphosphate. Adding the 1st rate of A.Ch improved the studied growth and yield parameters significantly compared with the control. Slight enhancement was induced by the 2nd A.Ch dose, and there was no significant difference between the 3rd and 4th rates in most studied parameters. The heighest value of grain yield resulted from the third interaction between A. Ch3 x P0, followed by A. Ch2 x P0, and the next is Ph.A x A. Ch2 x P1 without significant difference among them. These results shed light on the fact that there is no need to add P fertilizers yearly, as described by the recommendations of the Ministry of Agriculture. Different materials can move the fixed P in old clayey soil, such as A.Ch.