Abstract
This pot-based study investigated the influence of cow-manure-derived slow pyrolyzed biochar on the growth performance and accumulation of Nickle (Ni), Zink (Zn), Copper (Cu) and Iron (Fe) in the aboveground plant biomass of spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) grown under wastewater and groundwater irrigation. Biochar was applied in soil with or without manure (mixture of dung of cow and sheep/goat) at 3, 5 and 10% rates. Biochar application at 5% and when co-applied with manure at all application rates increased aboveground plant biomass under wastewater and groundwater irrigation. Application of biochar at 5 and 10% rates and when co-amended with manure at all application rates, increased the leaf area index under wastewater irrigation but caused no influence under groundwater irrigation. Biochar amendment at 5% rate reduced while at 10% rate and when co-applied with manure at 3 and 5% application rates increased root biomass under wastewater irrigation. Under groundwater irrigation, amendment of biochar at 10% and when co-applied with manure at 3 and 10% increased root biomass. Under wastewater irrigation, application of biochar tended to reduce the concentration of Ni when co-amended with manure while increased the concentration of Cu in aboveground plant tissues at 3 and 5% rates and when co-applied with manure at 10% rate. In conclusion, manure-derived biochar increased crop growth performance and influenced accumulation of heavy metals in aboveground plant tissues under wastewater and groundwater irrigation. Application of manure with biochar reduced concentration of Ni under wastewater irrigation and enhanced crop growth performance under groundwater irrigation.
Highlights
Irrigation of agricultural lands with municipal wastewater is a common practice in developing countries and the treated wastewater irrigation has been practiced in advance countries such as France, USA and Spain (Murtaza et al, 2010; literature review by Becerra-Castro et al, 2015)
This study aims to investigate the influence of cow manure-derived biochar, manure and the mixture of manure and biochar on the growth performance and heavy metal accumulation in the leaves of Spinach irrigated with municipal wastewater
Wastewater irrigation had positive influence of the growth performance of spinach while application of cow manure-derived biochar especially when co-applied with manure further enhanced the growth performance of this leafy vegetable regarding biomass production
Summary
Irrigation of agricultural lands with municipal wastewater is a common practice in developing countries and the treated wastewater irrigation has been practiced in advance countries such as France, USA and Spain (Murtaza et al, 2010; literature review by Becerra-Castro et al, 2015). The agricultural lands of arid and semi-arid regions, where groundwater does not fulfill both the human consumption and high agronomic demand, wastewater irrigation is commonly practiced to overcome this problem (Becerra-Castro et al, 2015; Gatta et al, 2016). Despite the potential regarding cost-efficient benefits to agronomic sector especially in arid regions, wastewater irrigation influences negatively the plant growth performance and causes high accumulation of heavy metals in the edible parts of crops, poses a threat to human health through food chain (Elgallal, Fletcher, & Evans, 2016; Murtaza et al, 2010). Manure and biochar have high adsorption capacity; manure forms insoluble metal complexes, which reduces the bioavailability of heavy metals in soil solution reduces their accumulation in plant tissues (Murtaza et al, 2010; Xu et al, 2016)
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