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PRINT ISSN : 2319-7692
Online ISSN : 2319-7706 Issues : 12 per year Publisher : Excellent Publishers Email : editorijcmas@gmail.com / submit@ijcmas.com Editor-in-chief: Dr.M.Prakash Index Copernicus ICV 2018: 95.39 NAAS RATING 2020: 5.38 |
The present investigation was conducted to study the effect of sewage sludge and cadmium on growth and quality features of marigold (Tagetes erecta L.). The experiment was conducted in Factorial Complete Randomized Design. The treatments consisted of four doses of sewage sludge (0, 5, 10 and 15 g kg-1) in combination with three doses of cadmium (0, 20 and 40 mg kg-1) taking three replications. The treatments were studied in three types of soils Alluvial, Red and Black soil. In the present study, plant height, the number of branch per plant, shoot fresh weight, shoot dry matter, flower height, compactness, flower diameter and shelf life of flower were measured. Results revealed that the application of sludge and cadmium significantly influenced the plant growth properties. The interaction effect of sludge and cadmium was not significant on studied characters except for flower height, compactness and shelf life. The highest plant height, number of branches per plant, shoot fresh and dry weight, flower diameter was obtained with 15 g kg-1 sludge amended soil. The treatment applied with higher dose of Cd (40 mg kg-1) without sewage sludge showed minimum shoot fresh and dry weight. It was found that application of sewage sludge can reduce the toxicity effect of cadmium. In general, black soils showed more response to sewage sludge and Cd which was clearly evident from higher values in respective treatments compared to red and alluvial soils.