PHOTOSYNTHETIC APPARATUS EFFICIENCY OF SIDA HERMAPHRODITA CULTIVATED ON HEAVY METALS CONTAMINATED ARABLE LAND UNDER VARIOUS FERTILIZATION REGIMES

Contaminated and marginal lands are favourable place for biomass feedstock establishment, especially due to European Union directive 2009/28/EC. This strategy not only cover local demand for energy and heat but also can be valuable in those land phytomanagment. The second-generation perennial energy crop species are the most feasible for such purpose. We studied the impact of two different fertilizer treatments on plant physiological parameters associated with photosynthesis, heavy metals (HMs) and primary macronutrients accumulation in Sida hermaphrodita cultivated on HMs contaminated soil under field conditions. NPK fertilized plants showed the highest values of photosynthetic parameters at the beginning of growing season when compared to control and microbial inoculated plants. However, at the end of the growing season inoculated and control plants showed better photosynthetic performance than NPK treated. NPK fertilizer caused higher Cd and Zn shoot concentrations while microbial inoculation caused higher K and the lowest N and P concentrations in shoot. Due to Cd, Pb and Zn concentrations in plants which should not result in alleviation of photosynthetic apparatus efficiency and biomass production it could be summarize that Sida hermaphrodita is a suitable plant for cultivation on land contaminated with HMs under different fertilization regimes.