Assessment of nitrate reductase activity and nitrogen content in foliar tissues of wheat variety PBW-343 under oil refinery effluent irrigation ​

A rapid expansion in fresh water requirement for crops which require plenty amount of water along with industrial and household demand, is becoming a key concern. To overcome this constraint, work has been done on recycling and utilization of certain industrial effluent for agricultural use. In this sequence a study was conducted to analyse the effects of oil refinery on nitrate reductase activity and nitrogen contents in foliar parts of wheat variety PBW-343 about irrigation with refinery effluent at various dilutions. For this study, pot culture experiments of wheat crop variety PBW-343 were conducted in three replicates of every treatment. To analyse the response of nitrate reductase activity and nitrogen contents in wheat, five treatments with different concentrations of refinery effluent i.e., control, 25, 50, 75 and 100% were made with control water. It was observed that during the vegetative and post-vegetative growth phases, there was an increase in nitrate reductase activity and nitrogen contents in the foliar parts of the crop with an increase in concentration of effluent in irrigating water. The irrigating water with undiluted effluent had the least favourable impacts on nitrate reductase activity and nitrogen contents compared to the control water. The plants grown under seventy-five percent concentrated effluent had the most favourable impact on nitrate reductase activity and nitrogen contents in the foliar parts of this crop variety in all growth phases.