Microsoft Word - 03- 08-120.doc

Abstract The efforts were made to study the impact of vermicomposted and composted farmyard manure (FYM) along with some combination of NPK fertilizers, on field crop of garlic (Allium stivum L.). A total of six experimental plots were prepared: T 1 (recommended doze of NPK), T 2 (vermicompost @ 15t/ha), T 3 (20 t/ha vermicompost), T 4 (15t/ha vermicompost + 50 % NPK), T 5 (15t/ha farmyard manure), and T 6 (farmyard manure 15t/ha + 100% recommended NPK) to test the plant production patterns, under field conditions. The maximum range of some plant parameters i.e. root length, shoot length, leaf length, fruit weight, number of cloves in garlic fruit and number of leaves per plant was in the T 4 treatment plot. Also, the average fruit weight was approximately 26.4% greater in T 4 than recommended NPK treatment plot (T 1 ). The vermicomposted FYM showed a comparatively better result of plant production than composted manure. The plant growth results indicate the presence of some growth-promoting substances in worm-processed material (vermicompost ) that might be responsible for better plant growth and productivity. This study suggests that vermicomposted manures may be a potential source of plant nutrients for sustainable crop production

Lead and cadmium removal from water using duckweed – Lemna gibba L.: Impa

The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of duckweed (Lemna gibba) in heavy metal (Pb and Cd) from water under different pH and metal loads. A total of three (2, 5 and 10 mg/L) strengths of Pb and Cd were used with varying pH (5, 7 and 9) and changes in metal concentration and metal uptake yield of system were recorded. The Pb and Cd removal ranged between 60.1% (2 mg/L at 9 pH) and 98.1% (10 mg/L at 7 pH) and 41.6% (10 mg/L at pH 9) and 84.8% (2 mg/L at pH 7), respectively. The duckweed set-up with pH 7 showed the optimum metal removal. The metal removal rate showed an inverse relationship with pH (r2 > 0.60, for all). Bioconcentration factor (BCF) and metal uptake yield per unit of dry biomass (qm) were recorded: 403–738 and 445–616, respectively for BCFPb and BCFCd. The qm suggest the dose (mg/L) 5 and 10 at pH 5 as the best combinations for the optimum removal. Results, thus suggest that L. gibba can be a suitable candidate for removal of heavy metals from pollutant water bodies

Treatment of High Nutrient-Loaded Wastewater in a Constructed Floating Wetland with Different Configurations: Role of <i>Lantana</i> Biochar Addition

Constructed wetlands (CW) with carbon stock in substrate matrix show high efficiency in wastewater nutrient removals. In this study, five batch-scale CW setups with varying Lantana weed biochar (BC) doses (5, 10, and 15%) in substrate matrix were established and changes in high nutrient-loaded wastewater parameters, ammonium N (NH4+-N), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate (NO3-N), sulfate (SO4−2), and phosphate (PO4−3), were monitored for 240 h hydraulic retention time (HRT). BC amount directly affected the removal mechanism of CWs and a significant reduction in COD (>92.71%) was recorded. CW setup with a 15% BC dose showed the maximum removal of PO4−3 (79.06%), NH4+-N (78.79%), SO4−2 (67.93%), and NO3-N (77.42%) from wastewater. The theory of BC facilitated physical removal, microbial facilitation, and chemical kinetics improvements are proposed for better removal of wastewater nutrients in studied CWs. Research results could be utilized to design a low-cost domestic wastewater treatment facility using BC for rural areas under a decentralized water treatment program

Valorization of Toxic Weed Lantana camara L. Biomass for Adsorptive Removal of Lead

Valorization of Lantana camara L., which is a recognized invasive plant, as a potential source of activated carbon is proposed in this study. Its stem and leaf have been utilized for the preparation of activated carbon (ACL and ACS) by following acid-impregnation technique, followed by thermal treatment. The developed activated carbon samples were characterized for their structural and surface related properties by low-temperature nitrogen adsorption isotherm, SEM techniques, and pHPZC method. The samples show reasonable high surface area and pore volume; nonetheless, these properties are higher in case of ACL as compraed to ACS. Both of these samples developed negative charge on their surface due to acid treatment that resulted in an increase in adsorption at pH > 5. The batch adsorption studies on these samples shows the Pb(II) ion adsorption capacities of ACL and ACS were 36.01 and 32.24 mg·g−1, respectively, at 25°C. The kinetics of adsorption with both the sample systems follow the pseudo-second-order model, whereas the experimental equilibrium isotherm data of ACL and ACS were explained by Freundlich and Langmuir models, respectively. For these samples, the HCl shows maximum desorption with which the recycling test on these samples shows that ACS has better recycling potential over ACL samples