English

Abstract

Release of paper industry effluents on to the agricultural lands causes indicative changes in nutrient cycling and organic matter processing. In the present study, paper industry effluent discharged soil (test) and undischarged soil (control) were collected from the surrounding areas of paper industry. The physicochemical, biological properties and soil enzyme activities such as protease and urease were examined. The experimental results indicated that, most of the physicochemical properties such as silt, clay, electrical conductivity, water holding capacity, organic matter and total nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium, microbial population and selected enzyme activities were significantly higher in the test sample than in the control. Additionally, activities were increased with increasing the incubation period upto 21 days over 0 days, however, activities were adversely affected at 28 days. Furthermore, relatively higher activities were observed in soil incubated in the presence of substrate than in the absence of substrate