Phytoavailability of chromium in Triticum Aestivum in natural and synthetically fertilized soil irrigated with hudiara drain wastewater, Lahore

<p>The present study compares the phytoavailability of chromium (Cr) in the presence of natural (kitchen compost)<br>and synthetic (commercially available urea) fertilizers in Triticum aestivum. To achieve this, the contaminated<br>water was collected from selected sites of Hudiara drain following random sampling technique. The collected<br>water samples were combined to give homogeneous mixture of representative sample. The germination of seeds<br>was evaluated after irrigation with different concentrations of this representative sample of Hudiara drain.<br>Results indicated that higher concentration of Hudiara water (< 70%) affected the germination of plants where<br>severe inhibition was observed when seeds were allowed to grow in the soil with 80% of Hudiara drain water.<br>Further it was observed that concentration of metals is significantly (p<0.01) higher in the plants (roots and<br>shoots) grown in fertilized soil compared to the control. The concentration of Cr was significantly (p<0.01) higher<br>in the plants grown in synthetically fertilized soil as compared to the one in natural fertilized soil. The<br>translocation factor showed that the movement of Cr from roots to shoot was positively correlated and was in the<br>order of root > stem > leaves. The study concluded that the wheat plants (Triticum aestivum) used for food<br>purpose if get irrigated with contaminated water can accumulate metals to toxic levels. This accumulation can<br>potentially get intensified through application of synthetic fertilizers.