Influence of Lime and Organic Matter on the Mobility of Cadmium in Cadmium-Contaminated Soil in Relation to Nutrition of Spinach

Cadmium and cadmium compounds are water soluble, mobile in most soils, bio-available, and tend to bio-accumulate. A pot culture experiment was conducted on contaminated soil to study the influence of lime and organic matter on the mobility of cadmium in spinach and its rhizosphere soil. Application of lime (50% and 100% lime requirement) and organic matter (0.5 and 1% by weight of soil) to soil decreased the availability of Cd to the soil and plant throughout the crop growth. The highest diethylene triamine penta-acetic acid (DTPA) extractable Cd was 10.84 mg kg(-1) in the treatment OM0 L-0 (No application of organic matter and lime) at 20 days after sowing of spinach. Likewise, the highest Cd concentration in spinach roots and shoots were 19.80 and 17.0 mg kg(-1) in the treatment OM0 L-0 at 20 days after sowing. The Cd concentration in spinach roots and shoots were decreased by 63.23 and 71.88%, respectively, in the treatment OM1 L-100 (application of FYM at 1.0% by weight of soil and lime at 100% lime requirement) after 60 days of growth. The lowest concentrations of Cd in the soil and plant after the harvest of the crop were 2.88 and 4.27 mg kg(-1), respectively, in the treatment OM1 L-100 and resulted in 65.75 and 71.55% decrease over control (OM0 L-0). The highest total chlorophyll content of leaves was 2.19 mg kg(-1) of fresh weight in the treatment OM1 L-100 at 40 days of crop growth.