Journal of Environmental Biology

Growth behavior studies of bread wheat plant exposed to 

municipal landfill leachate

 

Suman Mor¹, Kamalpreet Kaur¹ and Ravindra Khaiwal^2*

¹Department of Environment Studies, Panjab University, Chandigarh-160 014, India

²School of Public Health, PGIMER,  Chandigarh-160 012, India

*Corresponding Author email : khaiwal@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

Publication Data

Paper received:

15 October 2012

 

Revised received:

09 January 2013

 

Accepted:

01 February 2013

 

 

Abstract

Pot experiments were carried out to study the effect of different dilutions of leachate generated from municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill on bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). Eight treatment groups with different concentrations (0-100%) of leachate were prepared and treatments were given to the plants till they reached complete vegetative phase (45 days). The growth performances of wheat plants were assessed in terms of various parameters such as shoot and root length, dry biomass and chlorophyll content. Plants treated with higher concentrations of leachate (75% and 100%) showed higher growth (2.5 and 6%) and 100% survival rate as compared to control. However, high shoot weight (0.028 and 0.030 gm) and high chlorophyll content (213 and 230%) was reported in 30 and 40% leachate treatment as compared to control. Some symptoms of stress (discoloration of leaf blade, wilting and yellowing of plants) were also observed in plants, which could be related to the presence of high concentration of salts in the leachate. The current study suggests that MSW landfill leachate is rich in nutrients and can be used as fertilizer but before its application, the salinity level and concentration of toxic metals present in leachate should be considered in accordance with the tolerance ability of any plant.

 

Key words

Landfill leachate, Phytotoxicity, Triticum aestivum

 

 

 

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