European lacustrine systems are frequently exposed to nitrate (NO3–) pollution causing eutrophication processes. An example of these lakes is Shkodra Lake, a large, shallow lake shared by Albania and Montenegro, in the Balkans Peninsula. Shkodra Lake is a natural sink that collects NO3– from agricultural activities, widely diffused in the surrounding area. The additions of wheat straw and biochar have been suggested to increase soil NO3– retention of agricultural lands. To better understand the role of these two organic soil amendments in mitigating NO3– leaching from arable lands, a pot experiment using a representative sandy loam soil of the Skodra Lake basin was performed. More specifically, a greenhouse experiment with Lolium multiflorum L. and Zea mays L., was carried out for three months, to evaluate the concentrations of NO3–-N in leachate and the cumulative leaching losses of NO3–-N, after wheat straw (10 Mg ha–1) and biochar (10 Mg ha–1) soil addition, under the same rate of NPK fertiliser (300 kg ha–1). The effect of the two organic amendments on nitrate retention, was evaluated according to two methods: i) Soil NO3–-N leaching with distilled water; and ii) Soil NO3–-N extraction with 2M KCl. The leached NO3–-N and the Potentially Leachable NO3–-N (2M KCl extraction) were respectively determined. N uptake by plants, as well as the Nitrogen Use Efficiency were also calculated. A retention effect on nitrate was found in Lolium multiflorum L. and wheat straw treatments compared to control, by reducing leached NO3–-N almost to 35%. In SBFL (soil+biochar+fertiliser+Lolium) treatment, biochar effectively reduced the total amount of nitrate in leachate of 27% and 26% compared to SFL (soil+fertiliser+Lolium) and SSFL (soil+straw+fertiliser+Lolium) treatments, respectively. The potentially leachable NO3–-N was two to four times higher than the leached NO3–-N. The amount of potentially leachable NO3–-N per hectare ranged from 220 in SL (soil+Lolium) treatment, to 500 kg ha–1 in SFL. N plant uptake values ranged from 18.16 mg kg–1 in the non- fertilised treatment to 58.06 mg kg–1 soil in SSFM (soil+straw+fertiliser+maize) treatment. The NUE showed a similar trend (from 0 in the non-fertilised treatment to 47.9 % in SSFM). Results indicated a mitigating action of biochar on leaching of NO3–-N (leached up to 100 kg ha–1), despite the retention effect of the two different amendments applied.

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Water stress has become one of the foremost constraints to agricultural development, mostly in areas that are deficient in water. A field trial has been conducted to evaluate the performance of different twenty wheat genotypes under three stress treatments viz., control (T0) = normal watering, stress-1 (T1) = water stress from tillering up to maturity, and stress-2 (T2) = water stress from anthesis to maturity were used as treatments. The results revealed that a highly significant (p < 0.01) difference was observed among twenty wheat cultivars for morpho-physiological traits except for several tillers plant−1, spikeletspike−1, and relative water content. In the early days, 50% flowering was noted in Anmole-91 (64.33 days) under (T0), while Anmol-91 showed a relative decrease (RD-1) (−2.34 days) at days 50% flowering in (T1). The TJ-83 genotype showed an early response (−8.34 day) at days to 50% flowering under stress-2 (T2), but TD-I (−3.34) was observed to be relatively tolerant. Underwater stress from tillering to maturity (T1) SKD-1 was found more susceptible (−36.7 days) than other cultivars. Wheat cultivar Soghat-90 showed maximum RD-1 (−24.7) for grain yield plant−1 in stress-1 (T1) from tillering to maturity. Anmole-91, NIA-Sarang, and TD-I observed minimum was (−6) in the same water stress for various traits. Therefore, the findings of present work revealed that the best performing genotypes can be recommended for effective cultivation in future breeding programs.

Ca-bentonite (CB) alone and in a mixture with limestone (L), tobacco biochar (TB) and zeolite (Z) on the fixation, geochemical fractions and absorption of Cd and Zn by Chinese cabbage in smelter heavily polluted (S-HP) and smelter low polluted (S-LP) soils were investigated. The results showed that the CB + TB and CB + L + TB treatments significantly immobilized Cd up to 22.0% and 29.7%, respectively, and reduced uptake by Chinese cabbage shoot to 36.0% with CB + Z + L and 61.3% with CB + L in S-HP and S-LP soils compared with the control. The CB + Z + L + TB treatment mobilized Cd up to 4.4% and increased absorption in the shoot by 9.9% in S-HP soil. The greatest immobilization of Zn was 53.2% and 58.2% with the CB + Z + L + TB treatment, which reduced Zn uptake in the plant shoot by 10.0% with CB + L and 58.0% with CB + Z + L + TB in S-HP and S-LP soils. The CB + Z + TB and CB + TB treatments mobilized Zn up to 35.4% and 4.9%, respectively, in both soils. Furthermore, the uptake of Zn in plant shoot was observed by 59.0% and 7.9% with application of CB + Z and CB + TB treatments, respectively, in S-HP and S-LP soils. Overall, our results suggest that Ca-bentonite alone and in mixtures with different amendments can be used to reduce the phyto-extraction of Cd and Zn in Zn-smelter polluted soils.

Nowadays the human activity has increased the pressure on surface water quality. The purpose of this study is to assess the environmental quality of the Seman River water (in Southern part of Albania) through a 5-year monitoring program of 14 parameters (pH, DO, EC, TSS, Cl − , 3 NO − , Total-N, Total-P, BOD 5 , Cu 2+ , Ni 2+ , Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ and Temp. ˚C), that determine the environmental status of this waterbody, as well as the application of WQI (CCME) through a multivariable approach. Based on the cluster dendogram results, it can be concluded that during wet seasons such as winter-spring, there are more sediments which influence other physic-chemical parameters, while during dry seasons (summer-autumn) there are more decomposition reactions of elements released by sediments and influenced by temperature. PCA analysis determines whether the groups of factors correlate strongly or not, depending on the internal structures of the groups and variables "heavy" or latent and vary from season to season with differentiated contributions to the water quality. All three factors influence WQI to the extent of 56% in the summer and spring season and 64% and 40% in the autumn and winter season, respectively.