JOURNAL OF DEGRADED AND MINING LANDS MANAGEMENT ISSN: 2339-076X (p); 2502-2458 (e), Volume 5, Number 1 (October 2017): 1001-1007 DOI:10.15243/jdmlm.2017.051.1001 www.jdmlm.ub.ac.id 1001 Research Article The influence of rice husk and tobacco waste biochars on soil quality Amir Hamzah 1 , Ricky Indri Hapsari 1 , Rossyda Priyadarshini 2* 1 Tribhuwana Tunggadewi University, Jl. Telaga Warna, Tlogomas, Malang 65144, Indonesia 2 University of Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran”, Jl. Raya Rungkut Madya, Gunung Anyar, Surabaya 60294, Indonesia *corresponding author: ossy.rsd@gmail.com Received 04 September 2017, Accepted 18 September 2017 Abstract: Heavy metal pollution in agricultural land threatens soil and food quality. Soil pollution could be remediate using biochar, but the effectiveness of biochar on soil quality improvement is determined by types of feedstock and pyrolysis temperature. This study was aimed to explore the effect of different types of biochar on soil properties. Biochar from rice husk and tobacco waste was applied to soil contaminated with lead and mercury. This study was conducted at Sumber Brantas, Malang East Java, and used a completely randomized design with three replicates. Heavy metals content was measured using AAS. The results of measurements were analyzed using analysis of variance at 5% and 1% significance levels. The initial analysis of the soil properties at the research site showed that the soil nutrient status was low, i.e. N (0.2 %), K (0.50 cmol + /kg), and CEC (5.9 me/100g) respectively, but soil pH was neutral (6.8). The research site also has crossed the threshold of heavy metal content for Hg (0.5 ppm), Pb (25.22 ppm), Cd (1.96 ppm), and As (0.78 ppm). Biochar added had a positive influence on soil characteristics improvement. It could increase the content of organic C, i.e. 35.12% and 31.81% and CEC (cation exchange capacity), i.e.30.56 me/100g and 28.13 me/100 g for rice husk biochar and tobacco waste biochar, respectively. However, N, P, and K contents were low i.e. N ( 0.33 and 0.30 %); P 2 O 5 (148.79 and 152 ppm); K (1.58 and 2.11 mg/100g) for rice husk biochar and tobacco waste biochar, respectively. Keywords: biochar, heavy metal, remediation To cite this article: Hamzah, A., Hapsari, R.I. and Priyadarshini, R. 2017. The influence of rice husk and tobacco waste biochars on soil quality. J. Degrade. Min. Land Manage. 5(1): 1001-1007, DOI: 10.15243/jdmlm.2017.051.1007 Introduction Heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils and waters has dramatically increased during the last few decades (Rizwan et al., 2016). Heavy metals are among the major environmental pollutants and the accumulation of these metals in soils is of great concern in agricultural production due to their toxic effects on crop growth and food quality. Soil heavy metal pollution poses a risk to the environment and to human health due to biomagnification (increases in metal concentration as the element passes from lower to higher trophic levels) (Roy and McDonald, 2014). Some of these elements can be essential for living organisms while some others are non-essential. Concentrations of essential elements beyond a certain threshold will have pernicious health effects, cause they interfere the normal metabolism of living systems. Heavy metals are not degradable and hence accumulate in the environment having the potential to contaminate the food chain. This pollution threatens soil quality, plant survival, and human health. The remediation of heavy metals deserves attention but it is impaired by the cost of these processes. For last several years, there has been growing interest in the use of biochar as an amendment. The potential of biochar in immobilizing toxic substances (Mendez et. al., 2012) and recovering soil fertility is well documented. Biochar is a type of charcoal produced by pyrolysis process through conversion of biomass or biowaste at limited