Search

Micronutrients perform a significant role in growth and development of human population, but food crops grown on metal deficient soil showed limited accumulation in their grains, leads toward human malnutrition. Present experiment evaluated the Fe effect in soil and different wheat varieties grown under organic fertilizers treatments. For this purpose, experiment was conducted in Municipal solid waste (MSW-100 & MSW-200g), Poultry waste (PW-100 & PW-200), Press Mud (PM-100 & PM-200), Farm yard manure (FM-100 & FM-200) and control (CT) treatment under both pot and field trials. Study results presented that organic fertilizer treatment significantly increases the Fe content in wheat varieties with respect to control treatment. Maximum Fe level (4.33-8.78mg/kg) was found in MSW-200 treated soil. Root (12.86-29.97mg/kg) and shoot (29.11 to 12.41mg/kg) samples showed maximum Fe mean value in 11CO23 variety grown in FM-200 treatment. Grains (12.46-29.63mg/kg) showed highest Fe accumulation in the JOHAR-16 grown in PM-200 treatment. Fe content was ranges as 0.076-0.154mg/kg in pollution load index, 2.878-4.609mg/kg in bio-concentration factor, 0.00542-0.01287mg/kg in Daily intake index and 0.7737-1.8386mg/kg/day in health risk index. In term of varieties and treatments, maximum Fe content was exhibited in JOHAR-16 during PM-200 treatment while its minimal concentration was recorded in IHSAN-16 during CT treatment. Organic fertilizer treatments basically enhance the Fe content in wheat grains; which proves to be fruitful in decreasing micronutrient malnutrition from human diet in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coriander is an important leafy vegetable widely used in Pakistan for flavoring purpose. Due to scarcity of clean water, the coriander fields are irrigated with waste-water. The present study revealed the accumulation of different metals in coriander irrigated with wastewater in big cities such as Sargodha, Pakistan. The bioavailability of heavy metal from soil to plant was evaluated. Seven heavy metals were determined by using Atomic absorption spectrometer. The findings showed high level of arsenic as well as Pb, Cd, and Ni in coriander irrigated with waste-water. Regular monitoring of the contaminated area is recommended in order to reduce the health hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current effort was intended to cram the effect of sewage water on morphology and chemical symphony of cv. Dunkeld of canola (Brassica napus L.) in Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan. The obtained information showed that there was an explicit effect of each metal on the growth and yield of the canola cultivar. Sewage water treatment had a significant effect on number of leaves and leaf area. The presence of heavy metals in the sewage water increased the plant growth and yield but up to a certain level, however, higher concentration of heavy metals reaching to toxic level, caused the reduction in plant growth and yield. When sewage water was diluted the toxicity became abridged. Ten levels of sewage water serial dilutions were used in present studies. Statistically completely randomize design with three replications for each experiment unit was implemented. At 50% sewage water dilution, plants got the reasonable quantity of micro and macro nutrient which resulted in increase in growth, yield and yield components. From the analysis of variance of data, Ca, Mg and Mn concentrations were affected substantially by the treatments in soil as well as in forage and showed consistence pattern of augment with increase in the treatment level of sewage water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals pollution is a major concern on a global scale. The present work evaluated the cadmium (Cd) and copper (Cu) concentrations in water, soil, forages (Avena sativa, Brassica campestris, Medicago sativa, Pennisetum glaucum and Trifolium alexandrinum), milk and hair samples of cows. The samples taken according to trophic levels of the food chain were collected from selected arid regions of Khushab, Punjab, Pakistan and analyzed by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The concentrations of Cd and Cu were found in the range of 0.041-0.065 mg/L, 0.585-1.341 mg/L in water; 0.223-2.600 mg/kg, 11.550-15.853 mg/kg in soil; 0.0037-0.682 mg/kg, 3.0917-8.208 mg/kg in fodder; 0.0457-0.137 mg/kg, 0.0167-0.690 mg/L in milk and 0.043-0.112 mg/kg, 0.0427-0.497 mg/kg in hair, respectively. The Cd and Cu concentrations in water, soil, forage, milk and hair were safer compared to standard limits. Bioconcentration factor (BCF), Enrichment factor (EF), Daily Intake of Metal (DIM), and Health Risk Index (HRI) were found less than 1 in Cd and Cu whereas PLI<1 in Cd and PLI>1 in Cu that indicates copper pollution in soil. So, regular monitoring of heavy metals was required to appraise contamination levels in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]