Effect of Dust Emitted from Al-Kufa Cement Factory on some Indicators of Vegetative Growth of Wheat Plants

Abstract

A field study was conducted in the winter of 2022–2023 to determine the effect of Al-Kufa Cement Factory (CKD) dust on some soils in the plant’s neighboring areas on some botanical indicators of the wheat crop grown there by comparing them to vegetative growth indicators. The study was conducted on four locations surrounding Al-Kufa Cement Factory, three of which were southeast of the plant and under the influence of the cement factory dust with a sandy loam texture, and the fourth was northwest of the factory and not affected by the factory dust (comparison) with a sandy location texture. Some physical features of these sites have been measured. Seven replicates were used to measure plant height, number of leaves, number of branches, wheat production, and vegetative growth. The results showed that the dust factor had a significant effect on the studied vegetative growth indicators of wheat plants, including plant height, which increased with the dust factor, as the average of the studied grade in dust-affected locations was (89.73) cm. plant-1 and (74.13) cm. plant-1 in the unaffected location. According to the data, the average number of plant branches in dust-affected areas was (3.86-3.26) more than in unaffected areas. respectively plant-1 Leaf number attributes are the same. The average number of leaves in cement industry dust-affected areas increased to 10.73. Plant-1. The average of the same grade in the industrial dust-free area was 8.43 leaves. Plant-1, and the dust component increased the edge weight of wheat yield by 1.78 g. Plant-1 in dusty areas and (1.42) gm. Unaffected Plant-1, In the dust-affected area, the vegetative group’s dry weight increased with the dust factor, reaching (5.56) g. (4.43) g and plant-1. Unaffected plant-1.