Effect of industrial pollutants from hindustan paper corporation Nagaon paper project Jagiroad on vegetation with special reference to paddy

Abstract

Most of the water resources are polluted due to contamination with sewage, domestic waste, industrial and agricultural effluents etc. Nagaon Paper Mill is not an exception. The effluent discharged from the Nagaon Paper Mill is directly open to the nearby paddy fields, as such, the area which was once called the granary of erstwhile Nagaon district had failed to produce the expected quantity of paddy. An attempt was, therefore, made to investigate the overall response of the rice plant (Oryza sativa L, var Mahsuri) to the paper mill effluents by making the detailed analysis of water, soil and plants including morphological, ecological, physiological characters and yield component of rice. For the purpose of this research water, soil and plant samples were collected at regular intervals of 15 days after transplanting rice seedlings, from a total 5 previously determined stations from areas within the reach of the paper mill effluent (polluted) and from areas beyond the reach of the effluent (non-polluted). During the experiments quantitative estimations of temperature, colour, odour, pH, turbidity, total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solids (TDS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), Bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD), dissolved oxygen (DO), alkallnity, conductivity, presence of inorganic substances including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sodium absorption ratio (SAR) were made on water samples. The soil texture, pH, organic matter, soil porosity, water holding capacity, water retaining capacity, conductivity, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium of the soil samples were analysed. Similarly, plant height, leaf, stem and roots characters, number of flower and fertilized flower, grain yield, plant biomass, primary productivity, relative growth rate, net assimilation rate, leaf area, leaf area index, contents of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, leaf chlorophyll and germination behaviour were estimated on rice plants. The results of present study on water quality, soil properties, the responses of rice (Oryza...