Propagation through softwood cuttings often suffers from low rooting efficiency, largely due to suboptimal nursery media conditions. Traditional substrates, such as red soil, sand and FYM, lack of adequate water retention, aeration and microbial support. Incorporating organic amendments such as cocopeat, tank silt, red soil, sand and biochar, particularly biochar derived from guava waste, has shown promise in improving media quality. Biochar enhances root zone aeration, nutrient retention and microbial activity. Inspite of its potential, few studies have assessed biochar-enriched substrates for guava propagation. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of different biochar-based media on rooting and early growth of guava softwood cuttings, to establish a more sustainable and efficient propagation method. The experiment was conducted at the nursery of SRM College of Agricultural Sciences, located in Baburayanpettai, Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu, India, which experiences a tropical climate conducive to nursery operations. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was adopted with 5 treatment combinations and four replicates for each treatment. The treatment combinations (2:1:1) included different substrate mixtures: T1 (Sand + Biochar + FYM), T2 (Cocopeat + Biochar + FYM), T3 (Red Soil + Biochar + FYM), T4 (Tank Silt + Biochar + FYM) and T5 Control (Red Soil + Sand + FYM). Each substrate was thoroughly mixed before planting guava softwood cuttings to ensure homogeneity. The results of the experiment were statistically analyzed using the General R-Based Analysis Platform Empowered by Statistics (GRAPES), developed by the Department of Agricultural Statistics, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala (www.kaugrapes.com). Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the means, using a significance level of P ≤ 0.05. Among the treatments, T2 resulted in the highest plant height (36.34 cm), sturdy stem girth (4.74 mm), more number of leaves (4.66), maximum root volume (10.23 cm³), and longest root length (24.07 cm). Both dehydrogenase activity DHA (1.08 μg TPF g⁻¹ h⁻¹) and microbial biomass carbon MBC (0.37 µg C g⁻¹) were also better in the media T2 (Cocopeat + Biochar + FYM). The study demonstrated that biochar-enriched growing media, particularly the combination of cocopeat, biochar, and FYM, significantly improved root development, vegetative growth, and microbial activity in guava (Psidium guajava L.) cv. Lucknow-49 softwood cuttings. This T2 (Cocopeat + Biochar + FYM) media showed the highest rooting percentage with superior physiological performance, highlighting its potential for sustainable and efficient propagation of guava cuttings. These findings support the use of guava-derived biochar as a viable substrate amendment to enhance nursery production under tropical conditions

Guava, Biochar, Media, Morphological traits, Dehydrogenase activity and Microbiome

The present study demonstrated that the composition of the growing media plays a critical role in the successful propagation of guava cv. Lucknow-49 through softwood cuttings. Among all treatments, the media comprising cocopeat, biochar and farmyard manure (T2) significantly enhanced shoot growth, root development and soil biological activities, including dehydrogenase activity and microbial biomass carbon. The superior performance observed in this treatment can be attributed to improved substrate aeration, moisture retention, nutrient availability and a favourable microbial environment created by the synergistic interaction of its components. These results underscore the potential of guava-based biochar as a sustainable, value-added input in nursery media, contributing not only to plant growth but also to soil health. These findings open new avenues for environmentally sound propagation practices and advocate the recycling of orchard biomass for biochar production. However, further studies should be conducted to evaluate the long-term effects of biochar-based substrates on field performance, nutrient dynamics, and microbial ecology under diverse agro-climatic conditions in the future. Additionally, assessing the scalability of such media for commercial nursery use and organic cultivation systems remains an applicable area of future research

Nithiyasri S., Akino A., Gopu B. and Anbukkarasi Kaliyaperumal (2025). Influence of Biochar Amended Media on Root Development and Microbial Dynamics in Guava Propagation. Biological Forum, 17(8): 80-85