Phytotoxic Effect of Cadmium Induced Stress on LAI, CGR and Yield of Rice Plant (Oryza sativa L.)

Abstract

Background: Cadmium is a noxious heavy metal that is commonly found in the soil while its concentration is increasing in soil because of industrialization at the global level. It does not only reduce the yield of crops but also adulterates food and underground drinkable water. The availability of Cd beyond the threshold level may cause many problems in human beings. Exposure to Cd for a short period causes inhalation, muscle pain and lung damage while for a longer time, it may cause bone and kidney-related issues. The present study aimed to study the phytotoxic effect of Cadmium-induced stress on morphological changes and their impact on the yield of rice plants. Methods: Present piece of research work was carried out on the Research Farm of Lovely Professional University, Department of Agronomy, School of Agriculture, in 2019-20. A range of five different concentrations of CdCl2 was comprised with statistical design CRD. The range of 100 to 300 ppm CdCl2 was considered to induce Cd-based stress. The standard procedures were followed to measure the growth parameters at regular intervals while the SPSS software was used to analyze the significance of the data. Result: Cadmium-induced stress was created artificially in an experiment to analyze the detrimental effect on the growth and yield of rice plants. As the externally imposed cadmium stress increased from the control set (T0), all the growth parameters along with grain yield, Biological yield hill-1 (g) and harvest index (%) started to decline till the maximum concentrations of CdCl2, i.e. 300 ppm. As per the DAT is concerned, % reduction of each parameter was also calculated to the known intensity of toxicity where the maximum % reduction was recorded at 50 DAT in the leaf area and LAI (38.47% and 38.38%) while the maximum % reduction of CGR was recorded at 50-75 DAT (35%). However, the % reduction in grain yield, biological yield hill-1 (g) and harvest index % were recorded at the highest concentration of CdCl2 (31.87, 28.70 g and 11.1%).