The potential of thermal power plant fly ash to promote the growth of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) in agricultural soils

Abstract

The disposal of fly ash from thermal power plants causes significant economic and environmental problems. Although the fly ash contains several essential minerals, its application in agricultural practices is uncommon in India. The present study was undertaken to elucidate the possibility of fly ash application to agricultural soils to improve growth and yield in Indian mustard. This work was conducted to evaluate the effect of fly ash on growth, yield and chlorophyll content of the Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.cv. Varuna). For that, a greenhouse experiment was conducted to observe the effect of various fly ash concentrations (0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% w/w) with normal field soil on plant growth, yield and photosynthetic pigments. The plant growth (length, fresh weight and dry weight of shoot and root; number of leaves and branches per plant), yield (number of pods per plant, number of seeds per pod and weight of 100 seeds per plant) and pigment content (chlorophyll 'a' , chlorophyll 'b' and total chlorophyll) parameters were found to be significantly increased from 10 to 30% fly ash levels being maximum at 30%. However, at higher levels 40% to 50% of fly ash, growth, yield and pigment content parameters were reduced significantly. The perusal of the data revealed that 30% level of fly ash amendment in soil was found to be ideal for better growth, yield and pigment content of Indian mustard.

Growth, biochemical, and antioxidant response of beetroot (Beta vulgaris L.) grown in fly ash-amended soil

“…At higher levels, they can also interfere and inhibit the normal functioning of enzymes involved in the Calvin cycle of photosynthesis and hence reduce the overall growth performance [4,39]. These results are in conformity with Ashfaque and Inam [2], Gond et al [10], and Shakeel et al [32]. FA contains some hazardous metals such as Cd, Pb, Ti, and Cr which were accumulated by plants in a dosedependent manner.…”

“…The possible reason for this improvement is the enhancement of the nutrient status of soil (Ca, Mg, K, P, and S) and improvement in soil characteristics, including soil pH (Fig. 1), [32]. The improvement in the soil pH is an important factor that facilitates the availability of essential plant nutrients [24].…”

“…Ca, Mg, K, S, P, Si, Al, Fe, Cu, etc. [32]. Most of these elements fall in the criteria of essentiality of nutrients whose deficiency might affect the growth and yield of crops.…”

“…FA is a dual-edged waste which, if used at low levels, can be useful for crop productivity. The amendment of agricultural soils with FA improves soil pH, permeability, electrical conductivity, porosity, and water-holding capacity of the soil [9,29,32]. Because of its soil ameliorating properties, FA has [2,32] been successfully tested for the yield improvement in various crops including Indian mustard, radish [33], safed Musli [12], rice [5], wheat [23], turnip, onion, garlic, potato, and carrot [38].…”

Management of root-knot nematode infection by using fly ash and Trichoderma harzianum in Capsicum annum plants by modulating growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, biochemical substances, and secondary metabolite profiles

“…Treatment with 10% FA + 2 g T. harzianum + 2000J2 of M. incognita caused a significant increase in photosynthetic pigments as compared to control and inoculated plants. Fly ash is a good source of macro and microelements like sulfate, magnesium, and zinc, and its application to the soil increases the absorption of these metals by plants and thereby increases the photosynthetic pigments (Shakeel et al, 2019;Ahmed et al, 2021a).…”