Evaluation of copper stress on maize and its remediation by application of compost and vermicompost
Annum Jabar1, Muhammad Athar2, Kashf Mehmood4, Taha Ishfaq2, Saqib Bashir 2,3*, Zafar Iqbal5, Mureed Hussain2, Anaam Zahra1, Javaria Sherani6, Shahbaz Khan7*, Mohamed A. El- Sheikh8, Temoor Ahmed9,10
1Department of Botany, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan
2Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan
3CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China
4Department of Biological Science, Superior University, Lahore, Pakistan
5Department of Botany, Sargodha University, Sargodha, Pakistan
6Department of Horticulture, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan
7Colorado Water Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
8Botany and Microbiology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
9Department of Life Sciences, Western Caspian University, Baku, Azerbaijan
10MEU Research Unit, Middle East University, Amman, Jordan
Abstract
Recently, conversion of organic waste into useful products (organic fertilizers) is an emergent option for soil health restoration and sustainable ecosystem. In developing countries, excessive use of untreated wastewater and agrochemicals caused serious impact on food security and soil health. In this regard, the incorporation of recycled organic byproducts like compost (CP) and vermicompost (VC) have significant contribution in soil restoration by providing carbon and nutrients in polluted soil. A pot study was carried out to investigate the influence of CP and VC on maize growth and yield under copper stress. Maize was sown as a test plant in pots with 7 different treatments along with three repeats, such as T1: Control (CK); T2: 1% compost (CP 1%); T3: 2% Compost (CP 2%); T4: 5% Compost (CP 5%); T5: 1% vermicompost (VC 1%); T6: 2% Vermicompost (VC 2%) and T7: 5% Vermicompost (VC 5%). The current findings exhibited that incorporation of CP and VC prominently enhanced maize growth, biomass, plant height, chlorophyll contents, NPK status in soil and plant tissues. In addition, the results revealed that soil pH was prominently reduced by 0.54 and 0.59 units when CP and VC were mixed in Cu polluted soil. The addition of CP and VC at 5% rate presented the profound reduction in soil Cu by 24.41% and 43.02% respectively over control. Whereas Cu uptake by maize tissues was also reduced by 45% and 47% when CP and VC were incorporated at 5% rate. Overall, among all the treatments and application rates VC at 5% exhibited prominent results over control as well as other soil additives.
