## 4 Discussion  
Biochar feedstock type, rate, and application method could play an important role in better plant response [17, 39, 40, 41], due to its specific characteristics which are favorable to the soil health and could improve soil properties along with crop productivity [42, 43]. However, low or high nutrient content present in biochar that could influence germination of seeds depends upon properties of biochar feedstock [44]. As biochar has high nutrient retention and water holding capacity [45, 46, 47], we supposed that soil amendment with biochar may play a potential role in germination and early seedling development. The present study showed that biochar at a lower rate (Table 2) enhanced the early growth of maize seedlings that is evident from earlier studies [15, 41, 46], and improved plant macro- (N, P, K) and micronutrients (Zn, Mn, Fe, B, Cu, etc. ), as well as moisture retention in the soil [48]. Our findings are consistent with [49] who reported an improvement in \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Parameter** & **GP** & **GE** & **MET** & **EI** & **SV** & **RWC** & **Chl (a + b)** & **CAT** & **SOD** & **SDW** \\ \hline GE & 0.632 *** & & & & & & & & \\ MET & \(-\)0.137 ns & \(-\)0.121 ns & & & & & & & \\ EI & 0.598 *** & 0.299 ns & \(-\)0.173 ns & & & & & & \\ SV & 0.755 *** & 0.563 * & \(-\)0.432 ** & 0.509** & & & & & \\ RWC & 0.261 ns & 0.302 ns & 0.287 ns & 0.329 ns & 0.022 ns & & & & \\ Chl (a + b) & 0.600 *** & 0.636 *** & \(-\)0.214 ns & 0.372 ns & 0.583 * & 0.598 *** & & & \\ CAT & \(-\)0.105 ns & 0.099 ns & \(-\)0.170 ns & \(-\)0.123 ns & \(-\)0.238 ns & 0.257 ns & 0.178 ns & & \\ SOD & \(-\)0.099 ns & 0.079 ns & \(-\)0.166 ns & \(-\)0.236 ns & \(-\)0.148 ns & 0.068 ns & \(-\)0.050 ns & 0.567 ** & & \\ SDW & 0.480 ** & 0.648 *** & \(-\)0.407 ns & 0.216 ns & 0.800 *** & \(-\)0.179 ns & 0.502 ** & \(-\)0.144 ns & \(-\)0.215 ns & \\ RDW & 0.604 *** & 0.599 *** & \(-\)0.101 ns & 0.257 ns & 0.711 *** & 0.160 ns & 0.647 *** & \(-\)0.253 ns & \(-\)0.410 ns & 0.787 *** \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
*** shows highly significant at \(p\leq 0.01\), ** shows significant at \(p\leq 0.05\), ** shows non-significant at \(p\geq 0.05\). The abbreviations are: GP, germination percentage; GE, germination energy; MET, mean emergence time; EI, emergence index; SV, seed vigor; RWC, relative water content; Chl (a + b), chlorophyll a and b; CAT, catalase; SOD, superoxide dismutase; SDW, shoot dry weight; and RDW, root dry weight.  
\end{table} 
Table 4: Correlation matrix among different parameters of maize. Figure 4: Principal component analysis showing the correlation between the impact of biochar application on the germination of maize seeds and early growth of its seedlings, with the, treatments: T1: Control; T2: 0.5% Biochar; T3: 1.0% Biochar; T4: 1.5% Biochar; T5: 2.0% Biochar; T6: 2.5% Biochar; T7: 3.0% Biochar. The abbreviations are: GP, germination percentage; GE, germination energy; MET, mean emergence time; EI, emergence index; SV, seed vigor; RWC, relative water content; CHL, chlorophyll a and b; CAT, catalase; SOD, superoxide dismutase; SSDW, seedling shoot dry weight; SRDW, seedling root dry weight; SRL, seedling root length; SSL, seedling shoot length; CUE, cumulative utilization energy. the initial growth of shoot and root length in soil amended with biochar at a lower rate. Increase in seedling growth with biochar application is also documented by [PERSON] et al. [50]. Similarly, rice seedling lengths of roots and shoots increased with biochar nanoparticles [51]. [PERSON] [52] documented that olive pomace wastes biochar improved the root growth of date palm seedlings. Shoot and root length increment in _Coregpsis_, _Eschscholzia_, and _Leucanthemum_ was also reported by [PERSON] [53].