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Abstract

To sustain crop productivity, agronomic soil health is necessary but on the other hand, the spread of the Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) plantations is emerging as a major issue in agricultural soils because of allelopathic interference and nutrient depletion. Such edaphic degradation is a considerable threat to the Zea mays L. production, as it leads to the inhibited growth, lower yields, and lowered nutrition. Going by the hypothesis, that in case where the presence of Eucalyptus soils negatively affects the growth and yielding of Zea mays, then the effects of these soils can be countered by the introduction of biochar; this research aims to determine the effects that the soils in the presence of Eucalyptus have on the growth and yielding of maize and whether or not the biochar can restore the physicochem A completely randomized experiment was done in the village of Sabir Abad, District Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with different kinds of treatments, such as the soil with Eucalyptus, the soil with Eucalyptus with biochar added to it (1 percent), and the soil without any treatment. Maize growth and yield parameters were recorded and soils were studied in the following parameters of pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, nitrogen and texture. The soil with eucalyptus had poor growth, biomass, and yield of maize, in contrast, the addition of biochar, particularly, a mixture of wheat straw and peanut husk biochar pyrolyzed at 600- C enhanced the growth, biomass, and yield of the maize in contaminated soil significantly; in terms of height of the plant (93 cm), root length (22. The use of biochar led to an increase in percentages of organic matter (1.207%), nitrogen (0.0603%), and clay content (89%), which are associated with better nutrient retention and fertility. This paper has shown that in the event of the use of biochar, this would be a safe amendment in reducing the stress of Eucalyptus, and subsequently would be able to support Zea mays production. In the future, the emphasis of research should be on field trial over the long term across different soils and crops. Keywords: Zea mays, eucalyptus-affected soil, biochar, soil fertility, maize yield

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