IMMOBILIZATION OF CHROMIUM BY POULTRY MANURE AND GYPSUM IN SOIL AND REDUCING ITS UPTAKE BY SPINACH GROWN WITH TEXTILE EFFLUENT IRRIGATION.

Chromium (Cr) is an ecological poison and its concentration is reaching to lethal intensities in soil and plants by irrigating the soil with raw industrial effluents, particularly in developing nations like Pakistan. Poultry manure and gypsum are recognized for their capability to immobilize heavy metals in soils for plant uptake and filtering to ground water. The current trial was conducted under controlled conditions to evaluate the viability of poultry manure (PM) and gypsum applications to mitigate Cr toxicity in spinach grown-up in soil watered with textile effluent. The trial was designed in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three repetitions. The treatments were: T1 (Control), T2 (Poultry Manure @ 0.5%), T3 (Poultry Manure @ 1%), T4 (Gypsum @ 0.3%) and T5 (Gypsum @ 0.6%). Chromium uptake by shoots and roots of spinach were enhanced in control plants where only textile effluent was applied. Chromium uptake in roots was higher than shoots. Application of poultry manure and gypsum reduced the Cr toxicity. The shoot length and dry weight of spinach was higher where PM was incorporated @ 1% as compared to gypsum and control. The extent of Cr toxicity mitigation by PM application @ 1% was higher when compared with control. The outcomes of this investigation demonstrated that application of PM @ 1% to the soil could be utilized as a viable approach for diminishing Cr concentration in spinach plants in Crcontaminated soils irrigated with untreated textile effluents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]