Effect of Stone Crusher Dust Pollution on Biomass of Pigeon Pea

Abstract

Stone crusher dust produces deleterious effects on growth and development of plants. This study was done on pigeon pea plants grown on different agro-climatic conditions of Nawada district of Bihar to evaluate the effect of stone crush pollution on its biomass. This study was done on samples collected at an interval of 30 days for up to 240 days. Five plants from each group were collected at each time point. The stem and root of the collected samples were evaluated for biomass. At the initial time point, we did not observe any significant difference in biomass in both stem and root among the study groups. However, we observed significantly decreased biomass in both stem and root in plants in the affected area compared with the unaffected area at later time points (90 days onward). Stone crusher dust may affect the plants through encrustation of leaves, plugging of stomata, changes in the quantum of light absorbed by leaves, changes in pH both outside and inside the leaf as well as through modification in soil condition. Further, the significantly reduced biomass may be due to inhibition of the metabolic activity of plants in affected areas. The present study gives the evidence to the fact that stone crusher dust pollution is harmful to pigeon pea plants off all ages, irrespective of the stage of growth and development.