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Metal uptake via phosphate fertilizer and city sewage in cereal and legume crops in Pakistan

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Abstract

Crop irrigation with heavy metal-contaminated effluents is increasingly common worldwide and necessitates management strategies for safe crop production on contaminated soils. This field study examined the phytoavailability of three metals (Cd, Cu, and Zn) in two cereal (wheat, maize) and legume (chickpea, mungbean) crops in response to the application of either phosphatic fertilizer or sewage-derived water irrigation over two successive years. Five fertilizer treatments, i.e. control, recommended nitrogen (N) applied alone and in combination of three levels of phosphorus (P), half, full and 1.5 times of recommended P designated as N0P0, N1P0, N1P0.5, N1P1.0, and N1P1.5, respectively. Tissue concentrations of Cd, Cu, Zn, and P were determined in various plant parts, i.e., root, straw, and grains. On the calcareous soils studied while maximum biomass production was obtained with application of P at half the recommended dose, the concentrations of metals in the crops generally decreased with increasing P levels. Tissue metal concentrations increased with the application of N alone. Translocation and accumulation of Zn and Cu were consistently higher than Cd. And the pattern of Cd accumulation differed among plant species; more Cd being accumulated by dicots than monocots, especially in their grains. The order of Cd accumulation in grains was maize > chickpea > mungbean > wheat. Mungbean and chickpea straws also had higher tissue Cd concentration above permissible limits. The two legume species behaved similarly, while cereal species differed from each other in their Cd accumulation. Metal ion concentrations were markedly higher in roots followed by straw and grains. Increasing soil-applied P also increased the extractable metal and P concentrations in the post-harvest soil. Despite a considerable addition of metals by P fertilizer, all levels of applied P effectively decreased metal phytoavailability in sewage-irrigated soils, and applying half of the recommended dose of P fertilizer was the most feasible solution for curtailing plant metal uptake from soils. These findings may have wide applications for safer crop production of monocot species when irrigating crops with sewage effluent-derived waters.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the financial support of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan. We also recognize Dr. Manzoor Qadir from United Nations University-Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Ontario, Canada for his best cooperation throughout the study and critical review of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    G. Murtaza

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University at Qatar, P.O. Box 23874, Doha, Qatar

    W. Javed

  3. Punjab Agriculture Department, Bakhar, 30000, Pakistan

    A. Hussain

  4. Department of Botany, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    A. Wahid

  5. Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan

    B. Murtaza

  6. Environmental Contaminants Group, Mawson Institute, University of South Australia, Mawson Lakes Campus, Mawson Lakes, SA, 5095, Australia

    G. Owens

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  1. G. Murtaza
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  2. W. Javed
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  3. A. Hussain
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  4. A. Wahid
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  5. B. Murtaza
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  6. G. Owens
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Correspondence to G. Murtaza.

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Responsible editor: Hailong Wang

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Murtaza, G., Javed, W., Hussain, A. et al. Metal uptake via phosphate fertilizer and city sewage in cereal and legume crops in Pakistan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 9136–9147 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4073-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4073-y

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