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

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