Effect of hexavalent chromium on paddy crops (Oryza sativa)

Abstract

Increasing concentration of Cr(VI) in the soil of chromite mining area drastically affect the plant productivity. The high concentration of hexavalent Cr (39.46PPM) in the paddy field soil of Sukinda mining area is now the matter of serious concern which significantly impact on the growth and productivity of the rice plants. Hence an experiment has carried out to study the effect of Cr(VI) on different morpho-physiological properties of rice plants in each 30 days interval throughout the experiment through pot culture method. The germination percentage was 89% in controls and 68% in treated plants. The highest shoot length was 97.4cm and 78.3cm in control and treated plants respectively. The dry biomass and the weight of 1000 grains of the treated plants were found to be lower than the control. The Cr(VI) deposition in root, stem, leaf and seeds of the treated plants was 11.50, 0.289, 0.119 and 0.06PPM respectively.