Effect of biochar augments on various growth attributes of rice (Oryza sativa l.) in cadmium contaminated soil

Abstract

Anthropic actions like quarrying, transportation, agriculture, industrial waste disposal etc. discharge inorganic pollutants in great concentrations that are toxic to natural ecosystems. Heavy metal like cadmium is a toxic metallic element that poses serious human health hazards through consumption of contaminated agricultural produces when present in high concentrations in soil. To address this problem this experiment was conducted in 2018 to study the effect of biocharon growth, yield and quality of rice (Oryza sativa) in cadmium contaminated soil in the net house. Six cadmium levels (0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 mg/kg) with and without two levels of biochar viz., @ 20 ton/ha and 40 ton/ha respectively were taken as treatment. Plant height, chlorophyll content, panicle length, number of tillers hill-1, productive tillers hill-1, grains panicle-1, harvest index, grain yield, straw yield, protein content and protein yield in rice were recorded. Results of current study indicated that cadmium had negative impact on growth, yield and quality parameters of rice. Growth, yield and quality of rice significantly decreased with increasing doses of cadmium in soil. Results obtained from the experiments also revealed that addition of biochar significantly increased these parameters of rice. In general, the application of biochar has shown the ability to reduce the toxic effect of cadmium on growth, yield and quality of rice. © 2020, Editorial board of Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences. All rights reserved.