0786-B5

Effect of Industrial Effluent on Growth of Casuarina equisetifolia Seedlings

Vishal Saxena ¹, Somesh Gupta ², A.C. Banerjee ³ Ramjee Srivastava ⁴ and Ashwani Kumar ⁵

Abstract:

With the exponential increase in the number of industries, there has been a substantial increase in generation of industrial wastewater, which is discharged either into open land or nearby aquatic ecosystems. The effluent is an inevitable consequence of industrial process. In arid and semi arid regions of the country, where shortage of water becomes limiting factor, the effluent is being used for irrigational purposes by the farmers in agriculture and agro-forestry practices.

An attempt has been made to assess the physico-chemical characteristic of industrial effluent and the effect of various concentration (Viz. 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%) on seed germination of Casuarina equisetifolia. The various parameters of vigour test such as plumule-radicle length, height, diameter, number of leaves and other morphological characters with respect to control (distilled water) were taken for studies.

Introduction

With the exponential increase in the number of industries, there has been a substantial increase in generation of industrial wastewater, which is discharged either into open land or nearby aquatic ecosystems. This activity promotes varying degree of pollutional load in water, soil and air. The effluent is an inevitable consequence of industrial process. In arid and semi arid regions of the country, where shortage of water becomes limiting factor, the effluent is being used for irrigational purposes by the farmers in agriculture and agro-forestry practices. Since the production of wastewater is a continuous process, hence it can cater for substantial irrigation requirements. This alternative use of wastewater will not only prevent the waste from becoming an environment hazard but also will serve as a potential source of fertilizer if used rationally and at appropriate concentration.

The present study deals with the effect of Industrial effluents on germination of Casuarina equisetifolia, which grow abundantly in both tropical and temperate zones and is exclusively demanding species for agro-forestry. This species belongs to family Casurinaceae and grows from sea level to 1500 meter. It is a large, evergreen tree 15-30 mt. in height, with long straight trunk. The effects were examined in relation to various concentrations of effluent and various parameters of vigour test such as plumule-radicle length, height, diameter, number of leaves and other morphological characters

Materials and Methods

The effluent sample was collected from a Milk Board M/S Parag dairy premises, Kanpur and was stored in a dark place. The sample was analyzed for various physico-chemical characteristics as per the method described by APHA (1971) in "Standard Methods". The effluent was reddish brown and had pungent smell with other properties described in Table 1.

The seeds of Casuarina equisetifolia were collected from phenotypically superior trees planted locally. Only healthy and uniformly similar seeds were selected for different concentrations of effluents (Viz. 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%) and distilled water (as control) for 24 hrs. The experiment was laid out in randomised block design with three replications of fifty seeds in each treatment (Anon 1985).

Pot culture

The earthen pots (22.5 cm. height) lining with plastic sheets were taken. In each pot, potting mix was kept as Soil: Sand: Farm Yard Manure in a ratio 1:2:1. The seedlings of equal height and vigour were taken for experimental purpose and a measured quantity of effluent was added in each pot at fix interval of time. The observations regarding survival and growth parameters were recorded regularly up to a period of six months.

Results and Discussion

The data was analysed statistically (Panse and Sukhatme 1978).The effect of various conc. of effluent was studied in order to find out the suitable concentration of effluents which could increase the germination of seeds and could be recommended for application as irrigation in Casuarina equisetifolia. The findings of the present study are presented in Table (1and 2).

It is revealed that the effect of different concentrations of industrial effluent on germination was highly significant. The observation shows that effect of effluent has remarkable effects, which were promotive in comparison to control. After 15 days of observations it was found that in Petridishes trial, the maximum growth of plumule and radicle was observed in T4 treatments (i.e.60%). On making comparison of all the three medium (Petridish, germination paper and culture tube) it was noted that the maximum growth of plumule length was observed in germination paper whereas the maximum growth of radicle length was observed in culture tube trial.

It is revealed from Table-2 (Pot culture Trial), that the effect on different concentration of industrial effluent was highly significant as far as the mean height, diameter, number of branches and other morphological characters is concerned. The effect of T4 (i.e.60% concentration) was found to be maximum on above mentioned growth parameters.

Besides, the biomass of stem, root as well as leaf was also found to be maximum in case of treatment T4 (i.e. 60% of industrial effluents). As the concentration of effluent increases its alkalinity also increases. Therefore the growth of seedlings and biomass decreases. In our experiment also it was interesting to note that at 100% concentration of effluents there was a drastic decline in growth and biomass of seedlings of Casuarina equisetifolia.

The results of the present finding are well supported by other researchers also. Similar study was performed by Singh et.al (1985) with sugar mill and distillery effluent on Oryza sativa. The results showed that cent percent germination and best seedling growth occurred in 10% effluent conc. And thereafter a progressive decline is germination percentage, speed of germination index, seedling height and seedling biomass was observed.

Pandey and Sony (1994), in their study on utilization of distillery effluent as irrigation for the germination of seeds of Albizzia procera, reported that with increase in effluent concentration 10-80% the germination value was adversely affected and pure effluent (100%) did not allow the seed either to germinate or to grow. Consequently, it was proved that although pure distillery effluent could not be used for germination of A. procera but dilution of effluent concentration could be used.

Conclusion

The industrial effluents can be successfully utilized as irrigation for the germination and growth of Casuarina equisetifolia after appropriate dilution (60% conc.). The findings of present study may be proved useful in forest nurseries for large-scale irrigation of seedbeds as well as plantation sites of Casuarina equisetifolia.

Literature cited

Singh, D.K. et.al., 1985. Studies on Pollutional effects of Sugar  Mill and Distillery Effluent of Seed Germination and Seedling  Growth of Three Varieties of Rice. J. Environ. Biol., 6(1), 31-35.

Panse, V.G. and Sukhatme, P.V. 1978. Statistical methods for Agricultural Workers, New Delhi, ICAR (India), 359 p.

Pandey, D.K. and Soni, P. 1994. Distillery Effluent- A Potential  Resource for Irrigating Forest Seed Beds. ICFRE Publications, Dehradun, India. 267-268 p.

Midgley, S.J. et.al. 1981. Casuarina Ecology, Management and  Utilization. Proceedings of an International workshop, Canberra, Australia, 231-238 p.

Table 1 - Physico chemical properties of industrial effluent

Forest Research Institute, U.P., 18-G.T. Road, Kanpur-208 024.
¹ Research Fellow and Corresponding author.
² Research Fellow
³ Research Assistant
⁴ Forest Influences Officer and Soil Scientist
⁵ Conservator of Forests.

Corresponding Address: Vishal Saxena, Research Fellow.
Mailing Address: Forest Research Institute, U.P., 18-G.T. Road, Kanpur-208 024.
Telecommunication number: 91-0512-541092.
91-0512-543372.
E-mail Address: [email protected]