Effects of charcoal-production-site soils on soil properties and growth and yield of tomato and bush bean in Mizoram, India

This study examines the effects of charcoal production on soil primary nutrients and evaluates the feasibility of using charcoal production sites for economic land use by rural households in Mizoram. To assess the impact on soil properties, a comparative experiment was conducted by growing tomato and dwarf bush-type French bean using soil collected from the charcoal production site (T1), adjoining forest soil (T2), and jhum land soil (T3). The growth and performance of the crops under these treatments were evaluated to determine the relative suitability for cultivation. The results demonstrated significant improvement in soil fertility at the charcoal production site compared with adjoining forest soil and jhum land soil. Enhanced nutrient availability under soil conditions was associated with improved plant growth and yield components in both tomato and bush bean. PCA identified PC1 as the major source of variation, accounting for 76.43% of the variance in tomato and 76.82% in bush bean. Phosphorus, number of leaves, and fruits contribute most of the variation in tomato, whereas in bush bean, the variables that show most variation are number of branches, leaves, and pods. Hierarchical dendrogram analysis clearly distinguished the soil types, with the charcoal production site representing naturally enriched soils capable of supporting crop production. Thus, the results reflected that without incorporating any inorganic fertilizers, the charcoal production soil alone amended the vegetative growth, yield, and biomass in all treatments.