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Crop and Pasture Science Crop and Pasture Science Society
Plant sciences, sustainable farming systems and food quality
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Biochar, slag and ferrous manganese ore affect lead, cadmium and antioxidant enzymes in water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) grown in multi-metal contaminated soil

Sajid Mehmood https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6936-4975 A B # , Waqas Ahmed A B # , Muhammad Rizwan C , Allah Ditta D , Sana Irshad E , Di-Yun Chen F , Saqib Bashir https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8573-6591 G , Mohsin Mahmood A B , Weidong Li A B * and Muhammad Imtiaz H *
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A College of Ecology and Environment, Hainan University, Haikou City 570100, China.

B Key Laboratory of Agro-Forestry Environmental Processes and Ecological Regulation of Hainan Province (Hainan University), Haikou 570228, China.

C Institute of Soil Science, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

D Department of Environmental Sciences, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University Sheringal, Dir Upper, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18000, Pakistan.

E School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430070, China.

F Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory for Radionuclides Pollution Control and Resources, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.

G Department of Soil and Environmental Science, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan.

H Soil and Environmental Biotechnology Division, National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

# These authors contributed equally to this paper

Handling Editor: Zakaria Solaiman

Crop & Pasture Science - https://doi.org/10.1071/CP21043
Submitted: 22 January 2021  Accepted: 24 November 2021   Published online: 8 March 2022

© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing

Abstract

Many cost-effective and environmentally friendly strategies are applied to improve soil fertility, reduce soil pollution, and reduce the human health risks of consuming metal-contaminated vegetables. We evaluated the effects of three soil amendments, biochar, slag and ferrous manganese ore (FMO), at application rates of 3% and 6%, on the bioavailability of heavy metals in a contaminated soil, their bioaccumulation, and antioxidant enzyme activities in water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) plants. We also measured a range of soil physicochemical and biological properties, as well as plant biomass. Application of biochar at 6% was the most effective treatment for improving the fresh biomass of plants, with an increase of 32.31% in the roots and 47.98% in the shoots relative to the unamended soil. Compared with slag and FMO, biochar was most effective in improving soil physicochemical and biological properties. All amendments significantly reduced the bioavailability of lead and cadmium. We observed significantly positive correlations among bio-concentration factor, translocation factor and bioaccumulation coefficient. Correlation analysis also demonstrated that bulk density was positively correlated with soil available water content, but negatively correlated with soil organic matter, total porosity and hydraulic conductivity. Soil macro- and micronutrients were found to have a positive correlation with soil physical, chemical and biological properties. In conclusion, biochar, slag and FMO significantly affected the physical, chemical and biological properties of soil, and metal bioavailability and fertility status, safeguarding soil health and ensuring the healthy growth of the plants.

Keywords: biochar, cost-effective, environment-friendly, ferrous manganese ore, multi-metal contaminated soil, slag, water spinach, soil fertility.


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