A study to evaluate the effects of biochar and wood vinegar on soil properties, fall armyworm severity, and sorghum yield was carried out in a semi‐arid area of Koibatek, Baringo County, Kenya. Experiments were conducted over three seasons (2022–2024) using a randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times. The combined biochar and wood vinegar treatment (T4) consistently recorded the lowest soil bulk density (1.12 g cm −3 ), highest soil water content (25.2%), organic carbon (3.1%), available phosphorus (26.6 mg kg −1 ), moderate pH (6.53), and total nitrogen (0.29%) across seasons. Microbial counts were also highest in T4 (3.01–3.55 log CFU g −1 ), while FAW severity was lowest (<5%) under T4 and the synthetic fertilizer + insecticide‐treated control (T5) and highest (~70%) in the untreated control (T1). The highest grain yield (2.45 t ha −1 ) was recorded in T4, surpassing T5 (2.10 t ha −1 ) and the other treatments. Grain yield was positively correlated with tiller number ( r = 0.94), soil water content ( r = 0.88), and microbial counts ( r = 0.94), but negatively correlated with bulk density ( r = −0.96) and FAW severity ( r = −0.94). These results demonstrate that combining biochar and wood vinegar provides synergistic benefits, enhancing soil fertility, reducing FAW severity, and improving sorghum productivity under semi‐arid conditions.
Nyaanga et al. (Thu,) studied this question.