INTRODUCTION

The agricultural sector is one of the vital sectors in human life. The
agricultural sector has a very significant contribution to achieving the goals of the
second Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) program, namely no hunger,
achieving food security, improving nutrition, and encouraging sustainable agricultural
cultivation. The role of the rice agricultural sector in Indonesia is also very important
because it is the second largest contributor to economic activity. Indonesia's total rice
production in 2021 will reach 54.42 Million Tons of MDG (Milled Dry Grain) [1],
During the rice milling process, the husks will separate from the rice grains and
become milling waste. The amount of rice husk waste ranges from 20-23% of the
grain [2], so that the total rice husk waste in Indonesia's rice production in 2021 is
more than 10 million tons.

Rice husk is a hard layer that covers the rice karyopsis consisting of two
interlocked parts called lemma and palea. Hard-to-weather organic materials such as
rice husks, mung bean stover, corn cobs, coconut shells, empty oil palm fruit
bunches, and so on have not been widely used as a source of soil organic matter.
Husk is categorized as a biomass that can be used for various needs such as industrial
raw materials, animal feed, energy, and fuel. Husk is composed of a network of
cellulose fibers which contain a lot of silica in the form of very hard fibers so that the
natural destruction of husks takes place slowly, and their presence not only disturbs
the surrounding environment, but also disturbs human health. In addition, the
potential of rice husk can be used as biochar, biochar from rice husk also has a C-
organic content of > 35% and a relatively high content of macro nutrients such as N,
P and K [3].

Biochar is biological charcoal from an incomplete combustion leaving

nutrients that can fertilize the land. If the combustion is complete, the biochar turns
into ashes and releases carbon, which has a lower value in terms of environmental
considerations.

In addition to reducing emissions and increasing the binding of greenhouse

gases, biochar can also increase soil fertility and agricultural crop production. In
contrast to organic fertilizers that experience decomposition, which will emit gas in
the form of methane, which causes global warming 21 times more than carbon
dioxide. Biochar biological decomposition is usually less than 20% after 5-10 years
[4]. Rice husk biochar is an easily available source of organic material that has the
potential to be used to improve soil quality and increase crop yields. In addition to
increasing the pH, water holding capacity and cation exchange capacity, biochar
addition also increased the weight of grain and straw by 30 and 40%, respectively. As
a carrier material for FMA biological fertilizer, the addition of husk charcoal into the
zeolite media in the production of FMA inoculants can improve the quality of
inoculants, increase sorghum yields, and make production costs more economical.
However, the benefits of husk charcoal are not clearly visible in a short time, charcoal
and husk ash are sources of organic matter that are difficult to decompose, due to the
high lignin content. [5].

Hard-to-weathered organic matter contains high carbon, when processed using

pyrolysis techniques it can be used as a soil enhancer or biochar, one of which is to
increase the soil's ability to hold water. In addition, the use of organic matter in the
form of biochar is an action that can support soil carbon conservation [6].

In order to maximize the potential of biochar, it is necessary to vary the

temperature of pyrolysis. The yield of biochar decreases with increasing pyrolysis
temperature and is accompanied by an increase in carbon content, pH and electrical
conductivity [7]. Elements Al, Ca, Mg, Na, P, and K increase with increasing
pyrolysis temperature but there is no clear pattern for Fe and Si. Variability of
nutrients in biochar with increasing temperature is caused by the volatility and the
effect of pyrolysis temperature on both the composition and chemical structure of
biochar. In addition, the concentration of nutrients in biochar also depends on the
process of partial defraction or devolatilization of these nutrients at high temperatures
[8]. Based on this background, it is necessary to conduct research on the effect of
pyrolysis temperature on the character of rice husk biochar.

Reference
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Jakarta: Badan Pusat Statistik.
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Bogor
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