Muzaffar H Haidary, Ramesh Thatikunta and Prabhu Prasadini
Abstract
Pot culture study was conducted to understand the effect of treated industrial effluent water of Katedan area, Hyderabad on crop growth parameters and harvest index (HI) of baby corn. Effluent was characterized for different properties. Diluted effluent water was used for irrigation twice, i.e at 35 and 65 DAS coinciding with critical crop growth stages. Electrical conductivity (EC) of the effluent was (2.65 dS m-1), nitrates (37.85 mg L-1) and COD (950 mg L-1) which were slightly higher than FAO standards. Crop growth parameters viz., Absolute Growth Rate (AGR), Crop Growth Rate (CGR), Relative Growth Rate (RGR) and Net Assimilation Rate (NAR) showed variation at 35-65 DAS. Effluent water at different dilutions recorded less growth in terms of AGR, CGR, RGR and NAR as compared to normal water. However, HI was better when effluent was included as irrigant. Growth parameter recorded higher values with increase in dilution of the effluent, suggesting the utilization of treated effluent.