Impact of Biochar on the Growth and Physiology of Tomato Grown in the Cadmium Contaminated Soil

Abstract

Heavy metals Pollutants are not only dangerous to human life but also to fauna and flora. The existence of cadmium (Cd) in soil, atmosphere or water may unfavorably affect growth and physiology of plants. The experiment was conducted to study the impacts of biochar on the growth and physiology of tomato grown in Cd contaminated soil and activity of biochar in the contaminated soil. In this study different treatments of Cd were applied in the presence of certain portion of biochar. The order of treatments was 0 mg Cd as control with biochar (12%), low Cd (10mg), high Cd (15mg), low cadmium + biochar (10mg+12%) and high cadmium + biochar (15mg+12%) with distilled water as control. Growth and physiological parameters of plant were studied and prominent results were observed. The results showed that biochar has significant progressive effects on the growth and physiology of tomato by limiting the uptake of Cd by plants. As the concentration of Cd increased to high i.e. 15 mg/kg of soil, the limiting capacity of biochar was also seen less effective.