Phytoremediation: A way towards sustainable Agriculture

Phytoremediation means utilizing the potential of a variety of plants to remediate soil, sludge, sediment and water (surface water and underground aquifers) contaminated with heavy metals at the point or non-point sources. Phytoremediation is solar energy-driven technology, eco-friendly and a cost-effective way of making soil and water pollutants free. It is a process of onsite remediation by using different biological processes of plants. Phytoremediation is known widely by different terms viz., green-remediation, botanic-remediation, agro-remediation, and vegetative-remediation, etc. Pollutants occur in different forms, like organic, inorganic, metallic and non-metallic, etc. Plants can be utilized for phytoremediation of heavy metal polluted soil and water resources. This review gives current understanding of the mechanism of heavy metal remediation by different plant species, therefore encouraging research and development in this area. Phytoremediation further needs a profound understanding of the underlying mechanism and requires pilot level as well as field level studies.