Studies on the Effect of Dairy Industry Effluent on Soil Characteristics and Growth of the Paddy and Wheat Crops

Abstract

The industrialization is a significant tool for the development and growth of any nation. newlineConsequently, the number of industries has raised much all over the world. With the fast growth newlineof industries in the country, pollution of open land and natural water sources by industrial effluent newlinehas also increased enormously. The disposal of the effluent is the main problem faced by various newlineindustries, due to the production of a high volume of effluent and with limited space for disposal. newlineHence, it has turned into a matter of concern of the declining environment as well. newlineOn the other hand, India supports more than 16% of the world s population with only 4% newlineof the world s freshwater resources. With increasing agriculture, the gap between the supply and newlinedemand for fresh water has increased and reached an alarming level in some parts of the country. newlineHence, an increasing scarcity of water is another matter of concern which is compelling the newlinescientists to explore the superior water management options. newlineDairy sector of Punjab has shown a notable growth in supplies of milk production for the newlinelast many years. Generally, it generates about 2.5 liters of effluent per liter of the processed milk. newlineThe undiluted effluent being rich in organic matter is 60 to 80 times more polluting than domestic newlinesewage. An inappropriate discharge of the dairy industry effluent is a key source for pollution of newlinethe land, water, air and biodiversity. The main intention of the present study is to suggest a novel newlineway for safe disposal of effluent from the dairy industries by investigating if this could be reused newlinefor cultivating the paddy and wheat crops. For the purpose, the effects of different concentrations newlineof dairy industry effluent (viz. 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%) were studied on physio-chemical newlineproperties of the soil and agronomical characteristics of Oryza sativa L. and Triticum astivum. newlineIn the first phase of the study, quality indices of the effluent of study area have been newlinedetermined.