concentrations of six heavy metals including cr, mn, ni, pb, v and zn were determined in topsoil (from 47 grid cells), surface water (4 streams) and groundwater (8 wells and 4 qanats) from an agriculturalarea located at south part of the iranian capital, near the tehran oil refinery. concentrations of the elementswere measured using flame and flameless atomic absorption spectrometry. based on t...

Soil acidification is caused by a number of factors including acidic precipitation and the deposition from the atmosphere of acidifying gases or particles, such as sulphur dioxide, ammonia and nitric acid. The most important causes of soil acidification on agricultural land, however, are the application of ammonium-based fertilizers and urea, elemental S fertilizer and the growth of legumes. Ac...

Research on relationships between dissolved nutrients and land-use at the watershed scale is a high priority for protecting surface water quality. We measured dissolved nitrogen (DN) and ortho-phosphorus (P) along 130 km of the Calapooia River (Oregon, USA) and 44 of its sub-basins for 3 years to test for associations with land-use. Nutrient concentrations were analyzed for spatial and seasonal...

In Israel with its semi-arid climate, water is a limited resource and yet, in the last two decades about 60% of all of Israel’s water resources are directed for agricultural use. This is feasible due to the capacity to recycle water. Treated wastewater (TWW) has become an important source of irrigation water in Israel and other parts of the world due to the pressures of increasing population an...

Enhanced weathering (EW) aims to amplify a natural sink for CO2 by incorporating powdered silicate rock with high reactive surface area into agricultural soils. The goal is to achieve rapid dissolution of minerals and release of alkalinity with accompanying dissolution of CO2 into soils and drainage waters. EW could counteract phosphorus limitation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in tropical...

Heavy metal contamination of the soil has become a serious problem confronting both scientists and regulators around the world. The occurrence and accumulation of these heavy metals in farm soils has far reaching implications on human health as humans occupy a key position on the food chain. Within the last ten years, studies on heavy metal accumulation in food crops and agricultural soils cond...

Previous studies have demonstrated that the toxic effects of 2,4,5trichlorophenol (2,4,5-TCP) are greater in agricultural soils than in forest soils; therefore these effects appear to be influenced by the total C content and soil pH. Agricultural soils (usually low in organic C) contaminated with 2,4,5-TCP may be able to be remediated by the addition of organic waste products. To test this hypo...

Information on inoculum load and diversity of native microbial community is an important prerequisite for crop management of microbial origin. Azospirillum has a proven role in benefiting the maize (Zea mays) crop in terms of nutrient (nitrogen) supply as well as plant growth enhancement. Bihar state has highest average national maize productivity although fertilizer consumption is minimum, ind...