CHARACTERIZATION AND AMELIORATION OF DAIRY EFFLUENT AND ITS EFFECT ON SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING GROWTH OF MAIZE (Zea Mays L.) AND COWPEA (Vigna Unguiculata L.)
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Date
40773
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University of Agricultural Sciences GKVK, Bangalore
Abstract
A study was conducted to characterize and ameliorate the Dairy effluent to know its application in irrigation and other commercial purposes and also to identify its effect on seed germination and other growth parameters of crops like maize (Zea mays L.) and cowpea (Vigna ungiculata L.) The effluent sample obtained from the Yelahanka mother dairy Bengaluru was used for analysis. The physico-chemical parameters of the effluent viz., colour, odour, pH, EC, TDS, TSS, BOD, COD, N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S have been analyzed. The influence of physical, chemical and combination of both filtrations was studied to assess the amelioration effect to use the effluent for irrigation. Experiments were conducted to assess the quality of effluent for germination with Maize and Cow pea crops. The study results were analyzed using standard statistical procedure. The dairy effluent is dark milky white in colour with stringent smell, which is slightly irritating in nature. The effluent has high pH, EC, oxygen demanding waste and contains high amounts of soluble salts and plant nutrients. Among the different treatment methods (physical, chemical and combination of both) sand + clay filtration was found to be the most effective in improving the quality of the effluent by reducing the pollutants present in it. Germination studies revealed that lower concentrations of effluent and treated effluent samples showed favorable influence on seed germination and other growth parameters of maize and cowpea crops, whereas higher concentrations and untreated (raw effluent) effluent has shown inhibitory effects.