Zeitschrift für Pflanzenbiochemie und -physiologie
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Abstrakt

Soil Amendment with Municipal Sludge Does not Alter the Physiological Status of Solanum melongena

Bhupinder Dhir and Manchikatla Venkat Rajam

Investigations were carried to evaluate the effect of municipal sludge amendment in soil on physiological status of crop plant- Solanum melongena var. Pusa Hybrid 6. Preliminary studies proved sludge to be non-phytotoxic. The germination index (GI), the radicle and hypocotyl length did not exhibit differences between control and sludge treated samples hence reflecting the non-toxic nature. Soil supplementation with sludge in different proportions does alter the physiological status of plants. The parameters such as efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), electron transport rate (ETR), quantum yields of photosystem II (Y) did not show much differences within the treatments. Chlorophyll content and sugar levels also did not showed much differences in plants rose in sludge supplemented soil and control. The present studies demonstrated that sludge can be utilized as a soil supplement as it improves soil properties without altering the physiological status of plants.