Loading…
Phytomanagement of metal-contaminated agricultural land using sunflower, maize and tobacco
We investigated the long-term effectiveness of phytomanagement (the combination of profitable crop production with the gradual reduction of soil contamination by phytoextraction) to deal with moderately metal-contaminated agricultural land. In a 6-year field experiment, we grew maize ( Zea mays L.),...
Saved in:
Published in: | Agriculture, ecosystems & environment ecosystems & environment, 2010-02, Vol.136 (1), p.49-58 |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
Summary: | We investigated the long-term effectiveness of phytomanagement (the combination of profitable crop production with the gradual reduction of soil contamination by phytoextraction) to deal with moderately metal-contaminated agricultural land. In a 6-year field experiment, we grew maize (
Zea mays L.), sunflower (
Helianthus annuus L.) and tobacco (
Nicotiana tabacum L.) in crop rotation. The addition of elemental sulphur (2136
kg
ha
−1
yr
−1) decreased the soil pH from 7.4 to 6.7, increased the Zn accumulation by maize, sunflower and tobacco by factors of 1.3, 1.4 and 1.2, respectively, and increased the Cd accumulation by tobacco 1.3-fold. Neither the addition of ammonium sulphate (129
kg
ha
−1
yr
−1) nor nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA, 430
kg
ha
−1
yr
−1) significantly increased phytoextraction. The results show that phytoextraction for soil cleansing would require centuries. However, this land could be used to generate profitable crops, including the production of safe (low Cd) stock fodder fortified with Zn, green manure for micronutrient-deficient soils, or bioenergy. |
---|---|
ISSN: | 0167-8809 1873-2305 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.agee.2009.11.007 |