EFFECTS OF DIFFERENT BIOCHAR-BASED FERTILIZERS ON THE BIOLOGICAL PROPERTIES AND ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF POD PEPPER (Capsicum annuum var. frutescens L.)

Biochar-based fertilizer has been widely proposed as an amendment to improve soil quality and crop productivity, while few have explored the effects of biochar-based fertilizer on fruit quality and economic benefits.Two field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of different biocharbased fertilizers on pod pepper yield, fruit quality, nutrient uptake and utilization, and economic benefits in Guizhou Province, China in 2018 and 2019.Results indicated that the supply of biochar-based fertilizer could significantly increase the yield and fruit quality compared to traditional fertilization practice (TFP).Furthermore, the accumulation of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), the fertilization agronomic efficiency (AE) and recovery efficiency (RE) all significantly increased.After the deduction of the corresponding fertilizer cost, the application of biochar-based fertilizer also significantly increased the net proceeds except for the biochar-based fertilizer 1 (B1) treatment.