Effect of air pollutants on physiological parameters and yield attributes of paddy and wheat crops in Faridabad region, India

Air pollution is one of the major problems in the Delhi NCR region due to industrial emissions, traffic congestion, population growth and rapid development. Air pollutants deteriorate the environment, human health, plants and crops. This study focuses on the physiological parameters and yield attributes of paddy and wheat crops in the vicinity of a gas-based national thermal power plant (NTPC) located in Faridabad. Ten sites were selected, including the control site within a 10 km aerial distance from the exhaust chimney stack of the power plant. Major air pollutants, such as NOx, SOx, O3, and PM10, were monitored using Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines. The air quality index (AQI) was moderately polluted at the sampling site, while good air quality was observed at the control site. The results showed that the photosynthetic rates were reduced to 46% in paddies and 48% in wheat crops. In the vegetative growth stage of paddies and wheat crops, the stomatal conductance of paddies decreased to 0.11 mmol m-2s-1 compared to 0.19 mmol m-2s-1 at the control site. The transpiration rate ranged from 0.6 to 7.7 μmol/m2/s in paddies and 1.2 to 9.8 μmol/m2/s in wheat crops. The R2 value ranged from 0.702 to 0.985, which shows a strong impact of the air quality index on the physiological parameters of crops. The yield reduction due to air pollution in paddies was 11.6%, and in wheat crops, it was 14.8%. This study also provides an inventory of air pollutants in Faridabad region and their subsequent impacts on crops

AIR POLLUTION TOLERANCE INDEX OF WHEAT AND RICE IN THE PROXIMITY OF GAS BASED POWER PLANT

The study aimed to identify the tolerance level of rice and wheat due to air pollutants around the gas-based power plant. Ten sites were selected around 10km radius of gas based power plant. Major air pollutants like NOx, SOx, ozone, and PM10 were monitored in ten sites during the growth of rice and wheat. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of villages falls mostly in the category of moderately polluted sites. Air Pollution Tolerance Index (APTI) is a tool applied for categorizing sensitive or tolerant plants towards air pollution and is calculated by using four biochemical parameters like total chlorophyll content, ascorbic acid, pH, and relative water content of rice and wheat. Results indicated that the pH of cell sap of both the crops was acidic to neutral pH (3.5-6.9) at polluted sites while neutral to slightly alkaline (7.0-7.9) at less polluted sites. Ascorbic acid content was high at polluted sites since ascorbic acid shows a defense mechanism against air pollution. Chlorophyll content (up to 0.61mg/g) and relative water content have shown a significant decrease at most polluted sites. As per APTI values (APTI<11), both the crops were sensitive to air pollution in the selected area. APTI might be beneficial in the selection of crop species in the polluted area which shows that a higher concentration of air pollutants can damage crops severely. APTI was found to be positively correlated with pH, total chlorophyll content, and relative water content and negatively correlated with ascorbic acid