Research Article Open Access

Utilization of Distillery Industry Wastewater as Liquid Biofertilizer: Seed Bioassay Test for Feasibility and Toxicity Assessment

Abstract

The industrial effluents have been recommended as potential source of irrigation water and nutrient sources for commercial cropping system. However, the high nutrient loads and presence of some growth retarding substances in industrial effluent may cause severe impact on plant germination and gross productivity of a commercial crop. Prior to field application the industrial effluent should be tested for its ecotoxicity using seed bioassay test. The of this study was to investigate the toxicity of distillery effluent (DE) using seeds of moong (Vigna radiata), guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba), Makai (Zea mays) and gehu (Triticum aestivum). For lab trial, a total of a total of five different concentrations of distillery effluents (20, 40, 60, 80 and 100%) were prepared by adding required quantity of distilled water. Seed germination, root length, shoot length, root weight, shoot weight and chlorophyll level etc. were measured in experimental set-ups. Result suggested 40% DE strength suitable for plants: C. Tetragonoloba (67.7%), T. aestivum (64%) and Z. Mays (92.3%) except in V.radiate (98% germination with 60% DE). The high DE indicates a toxic impact on seed germinations. The seedling growth and biomass also showed a close relationship with strength of DE in treatment set-up. In majority of set-ups, set-up with 20 – 60 % DE strength showed the better results of plant groths. The biochemical stress of high DE strength on seedling was also observed in this study. The study clearly support the utility of DE for plant production but after proper dilutions of the effluent.

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