## 3 Results
### Impact of Biochar on Morpho-Physiological Attributes and Enzyme Activity of Maize Seedlings  
#### 3.2.1 Morphological Attributes  
Results regarding maize seedlings growth (Table 2) revealed that biochar application to soil influenced maize seedlings positively. Seedling length was increased significantly (\(p\leq 0.05\)) at a lower rate of biochar, and maximum shoot length was 34 cm at 1.5% biochar, which was 46% more than control; conversely, higher rates of biochar (>1.5%) showed non-significant effects on shoot length, as compared to the control (Table 2). Fresh (1.09 g) and dry weight (0.089 g) of seedlings shoots was the highest with 1.5 and 2% biochar application, while it was 0.67 g and 0.063 g, in control. However, biochar application at higher rates (>2%) inhibited seedlings root length, while lower rates (<2%) increased root length. The maximum root length (27.33 cm) was observed with biochar application at the rate of 1.5%. Moreover, this increased root length was statistically at par where 1% and 2% biochar was applied (Table 2). Significant (\(p\leq 0.05\)) increase in root fresh and dry mass of maize seedlings was observed with the application of biochar when applied at the rate of 1.5 and 2%, respectively, although higher rate of biochar addition showed no-significant difference between fresh and dry mass of seedling roots, as compared to the control treatment (without biochar).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Biochar Level**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Seedlings Shoot**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Seedlings Root**} \\ \cline{2-7}  & **Length** & **Fresh Weight** & **Dry Weight** & **Length** & **Fresh Weight** & **Dry Weight** \\  & **(cm)** & **(g)** & **(g)** & **(cm)** & **(g)** & **(g)** \\ \hline Control & 23.33 \(\pm\) 1.45d & 0.67 \(\pm\) 0.02d & 0.063 \(\pm\) 0.002e & 13.33 \(\pm\) 1.45d & 0.37 \(\pm\) 0.02d & 0.090 \(\pm\) 0.004d \\
0.5 & 28.33 \(\pm\) 1.67 bc & 0.85 \(\pm\) 0.05c & 0.074 \(\pm\) 0.004 cd & 21.00 \(\pm\) 1.53 bc & 0.47 \(\pm\) 0.02 bc & 0.098 \(\pm\) 0.005 cd \\
1.0 & 32.33 \(\pm\) 0.88 ab & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.02 ab & 0.085 \(\pm\) 0.002 ab & 26.67 \(\pm\) 1.67a & 0.52 \(\pm\) 0.02 ab & 0.114 \(\pm\) 0.003 ab \\
1.5 & 34.00 \(\pm\) 0.58a & 1.09 \(\pm\) 0.05a & 0.088 \(\pm\) 0.004 ab & 27.33 \(\pm\) 1.20a & 0.57 \(\pm\) 0.02a & 0.119 \(\pm\) 0.002 ab \\
2.0 & 28.67 \(\pm\) 1.76 bc & 1.08 \(\pm\) 0.07 ab & 0.089 \(\pm\) 0.003a & 25.00 \(\pm\) 1.15 ab & 0.52 \(\pm\) 0.05 ab & 0.122 \(\pm\) 0.003a \\
2.5 & 26.33 \(\pm\) 1.20 cd & 1.03 \(\pm\) 0.06 ab & 0.078 \(\pm\) 0.003 bc & 20.33 \(\pm\) 1.33c & 0.42 \(\pm\) 0.03 cd & 0.107 \(\pm\) 0.004 bc \\
3.0 & 25.67 \(\pm\) 2.03 cd & 0.94 \(\pm\) 0.03 bc & 0.063 \(\pm\) 0.005 de & 18.00 \(\pm\) 1.53c & 0.40 \(\pm\) 0.03 cd & 0.100 \(\pm\) 0.005 cd \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} Values are the mean of three replicates. Means sharing similar letters do not differ significantly (at \(p\leq 0.05\)).  
\end{table}
Table 2: Biochar effects on maize seedling growth parameters.  
Figure 3: **(A) Effect of different biochar rates on number of germination seeds per day. (B) Effect of different biochar rates on germination percentage of maize seeds. Here, the data presented is the average of three replicates of each treatment.**