ABSTRACT
Waste water from fish production system is increasingly being used for arable crop production particularly in areas with shortage of water supply with some benefits and also some risks on the environment and man. This work on “The Effects of Irrigating with Waste Water (WW) and Borehole Water (BW) from Fish Culture on Soil Characteristics and Growth of fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis)” was carried out in the Fish Farm of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. Three water regimes namely WWED, WW2D and WWID and a Control were used as treatment. The experiment was conducted on prepared beds using a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three (3) replications which was carried out from January to February, 2017. Genetically uniform seeds of (T. occidentalis) extracted from one pod obtained from the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike were used for the experiment. The seeds were planted one per hole into the beds at spacing of 0.2m. Measurements were done on the fresh weight of T. occidentalis leaves. The levels of selected minerals in both T. occidentalis leaves and soils, and also concentration of selected heavy metals were determined. The physio-chemical properties of both BW and WW were determined prior to the commencement of trial and compared with the WHO/FAO standards. The pH value of BW was 7.14 while the waste water was 8.24 indicating that both were within WHO/FAO standard of 6.5-8.5. TDS (mg/l) for the BW and WW were 20.60 and 204.00 respectively. The TSS (mg/l) for BW and WW were 11.00 and 248 respectively. TSS and TDS for WW were elevated when compared to WHO/FAO TSS standard (30mg/l) and TDS (100mg/l). The mineral contents of the WW from the fish pond were significantly higher than that of BW. Calcium (Ca) in WW was 152.84 mg/l which was four times higher than that of BW; K was 336.46mg/l in WW which was 45 times more than BW; Na in WW was 136.46 mg/l and is more than 4 times higher than that of BW; and N in WW was 8.10% which is 35 times more than that of BW. WHO/FAO standards for Ca, Mg, K, P and N were 200mg/l, 150mg/l, 200mg/l, 200mg/l and 10mg/l respectively. Results for the heavy metal concentration in irrigation water showed that all heavy metals analyzed for were not detectable in the BW except for Fe (0.04mg/l). In WW, the concentrations (mg/l) of Cd, Cr, Pb, Fe, and Cu were 0.245, 0.086, 0.427, 0.882 and 0.284 respectively while the WHO/FAO acceptable standards for them are 0.01mg/l, 0.05mg/l, 0.05mg/l, 0.30mg/l, and 1.0mg/l respectively. There were significant differences amongst treatment plots irrigated with WW at different levels (WWED, WW2D and WWID) and the control plot (BWED). WWED had the highest fresh shoot yield with a weight of 24.85kg, followed by WW2D – 22.00kg, WW1D – 18.17kg and the least was BWED which weighed 14.17kg. Using waste water from fish pond provided improved yield but caution needs to be exercised to avoid heavy metal contamination.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title
page i
Certification ii
Declaration iii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgement v
Table
of contents vi
List
of tables ix
List
of figures x
List
of plates xi
List
of abbreviations xii
Abstract
xiii
CHAPTER
1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Objective of the Study 2
1.2 Statement of Problem 2
1.3 Justification 3
CHAPTER
2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Classification,
Growth and Development of Telfairia
occidentalis Hook, f. 5
2.2 Uses of Telfairia occidentalis Hook, f. 6
2.3 Health Benefit of Telfairia occidentalis Hook, f.
(fluted pumpkin) 7
2.4 Definition of Waste Water 7
2.5 The Impact of using Waste Water for
Irrigation 8
2.5.1 Implication for farmers’ consumers’ health 8
2.6 Aquaculture Waste Outputs 9
2.7 Negative and Positive Impact of
Irrigating with Waste Water on
Agriculture 12
2.7.1 Negative impacts of irrigating with waste
water on agriculture 12
2.7.2 Positive impacts of irrigating with waste
water on agriculture 12
2.8
Effect of Heavy Metals on Human Health 13
2.9 Benefits of Heavy Metals 14
2.10 Some Heavy Metals and Toxicity
Characteristics 14
2.10.1 Lead 16
2.10.2 Cadmium 16
2.10.3 Chromium 17
2.10.4 Copper 17
2.10.5 Iron 18
CHAPTER 3: MATERIALS
AND METHODS
3.1 Study Area 19
3.1.1 MOUAU Fish farm 19
3.2 Experimental Design 20
3.2.1 Field preparation and cultivation of plants 21
3.2.2 Collection of water sample and analysis 24
3.2.3 Collection of soil samples 25
3.2.4 Soil analysis 25
3.2.5 Plant analysis 26
3.2.6 Data collection for plant growth and yield 26
3.3 Statistical Analysis 27
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Selected
Properties of Borehole Water (BW) and Waste Water (WW) from the Fish Culture used for Irrigation of Telfairia occidentalis Hook, f. at
MOUAU Fish Farm 28
4.1.1 Physical properties of water used for
irrigation 28
4.1.2 Mineral content of water used for irrigation 34
4.1.3 Concentration of heavy metals in irrigation
water 39
4.2
The Effect of using Borehole Water
and Waste Water from Fish Culture
at MOUAU Fish Farm for Irrigation on
Heavy Metal Concentration
of the Soil 43
4.3
The Effects of using Borehole Water
and Waste Water from Fish Culture
at MOUAU Fish Farm for Irrigation on
Heavy Metal Concentration of
Telfairia
occidentalis Hook, f. Leaves 47
4.4
The Effects of using Borehole Water
and Waste Water from Fish Culture
at MOUAU Fish Farm for Irrigation on
the Mineral Content of the Soil 50
4.5
The Effects of using Borehole Water
and Waste Water from Fish Culture at
MOUAU Fish Farm for Irrigation on the Mineral
Content of
Telfairia
occidentalis Hook, f. Leaves. 54
4.6
The Effects of using Borehole Water
and Waste Water from Fish Culture
at MOUAU Fish Farm for Irrigation on
the Number of Leaves of
Telfairia
occidentalis Hook, f. 57
4.7 The
Effects of using Borehole Water and Waste Water from Fish Culture at
MOUAU Fish Farm for Irrigation on the Number
of Nodes of
Telfairia
occidentalis Hook, f. 60
4.8 The Effects of using Borehole Water and
Waste Water from Fish Culture at
MOUAU Fish Farm for Irrigation on the Stem
Length of
Telfairia
occidentalis Hook, f. 63
4.9 The Effects of using Borehole Water and Waste
Water from Fish Culture at
MOUAU Fish
Farm for Irrigation on Fresh Shoot Weight (yield) of
Telfairia occidentalis Hook,
F. 65
CHAPTER
5: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary and Conclusion 68
5.2 Recommendations 70
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
LIST OF TABLES
2.1 Major chemicals used in aquaculture
practices 11
2.2 Classification of metals on basis of
health hazards 15
4.1 Physiochemical properties of borehole
water (bw) and waste
water (ww) from fish culture used for irrigation of Telfaira occidentalis Hook, f. at MOUAU fish farm 30
4.2 Mineral content of borehole water (bw) and
waste water (ww)
from fish culture used for irrigation
of
Telfairia occidentalis Hook,
f. at MOUAU fish farm 38
4.3 Concentration of heavy metals in the borehole
water
(bw) and waste water (ww) discharged
from the fish pond
used for irrigation of Telfairia occidentialis Hook, f. at
MOUAU fish farm 41
4.4 Heavy metal concentration soils irrigated
with borehole water and
waste water discharged from the fish pond at MOUAU fish farm 45
4.5 Heavy metal concentration in Telfairia occidentalis Hook, f. leaves irrigated with borehole
water and waste water discharged from
the fish pond at MOUAU fish farm 49
4.6 Mineral content of soils irrigated with borehole
water and waste water discharged from the
fish pond at MOUAU fish farm. 53
4.7 Mineral content of Telfairia occidentalis Hook, f. leaves
irrigated
with borehole water and waste water
discharged from the pond
at MOUAU fish farm. 55
4.8 Effect of borehole water and waste water from
farm fish
culture on the number of leaves of Telfaria occidentalis Hook, f. grown at
MOUAU fish farm. 59
4.9 Data for borehole water and waste water
from fish culture effect on
the number of nodes of Telfairia
occidentalis Hook, f. grown at MOUAU
fish farm. 62
4.10 Data for borehole water and waste water from
fish culture effect on
plant height of Telfairia occidentalis
Hook, f. grown at
MOUAU fish farm. 64
LIST OF FIGURES
4.1
The effect of waste water from fish
culture application on the fresh shoot yield (per
ha) of Telfairia occidentalis Hook,
f. grown at MOUAU fish farm. 67
LIST OF
PLATES
1 Telfairia
occidentalis leaves raised on the 12 (twelve)
subplots used for the
experiment 21
2
Telfairia occidentalis Hook,
f. leaves raised on the 4 (four)
treatment plots WWED,
WW2D, WWID and BWED 21
3
Genetically uniform
seeds of Telfairia occidentalis Hook,
f.
produced from the
National Root Crops Research Institute. 23
4
Telfairia occidentalis Hook, f. seeds sown 2cm deep in
five rows on each bed. 23
5
Picture showing 20
litres stipulated measurement and watering
can used for
administration of both waste water and
borehole water 23
6
Picture showing
watering can used for the sprinkling of both
borehole water and waste
water on each bed 23
7
Picture showing
manual weeding of Telfairia occidentalis
Hook, f.
beds with a hoe 24
8 Student collecting data 27
LIST
OF ABBREVIATIONS
BW = Borehole Water
WW = Waste
Water
BWED = Borehole
Water once Every Day of the week
WWID = Waste
Water once One (1) Day of the week
WW2D = Waste
Water once on Two (2) Days of the week
WWED = Waste
Water once Every Day of the week
BWEDS = Borehole
Water once Every Day of the week on the Soil
WWIDS = Waste
Water once One (1) Day of the week on the Soil
WW2DS = Waste
Water once on Two (2) Days of the week on the Soil
WWEDS = Waste
Water once Every Day of the week on the Soil
BWEDL
= Borehole Water once Every
Day of the week on the Leaves
WW1DL = Waste
Water once One (1) Day of the week on the Leaves
WW2DL = Waste
Water once on Two (2) Days of the week on the Leaves
WWEDL = Waste
Water once Every Day of the week on the Leaves
WAS = Weeks
After Sowing
LSD = Least
Significant Difference
Max. Conc. = Maximum Concentration
WHO = World
Health Organization
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
As urban population in
developing countries increase, and individuals seek better living standard, increased amounts
of fresh water are diverted to domestic, commercial and industrial sectors,
which generate volumes of waste water (Lazarova and Bahri, 2005; Qadir et al., 2007; Asano et al., 2007). Waste water is commonly released with little or no treatment
into natural water bodies, which can become highly polluted. Farmers in urban
and peri-urban areas of nearly all developing countries who require water for
irrigation have often no other choice than using waste water. They even
purposely use undiluted waste water because it is considered as source of
nutrients or cheaper source of water (Scott et
al., 2004; Keraita and Drechsel, 2004). Using waste to irrigate
agricultural land is one of the ways to reuse waste water from urban and
industrial areas. The use of water for irrigation has some advantages such as
increase in organic carbon (OC), Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), potassium (K)
and magnesium (Mg) contents of the soil as compared to clean ground water
irrigation.
Most farmers and
consumers are not totally aware of the potential impacts of irrigation with
waste water. Waste water irrigation leads to accumulation of heavy metals in
the soil (Singh, et al., 2004;
Mapanda, et al., 2005). Sewage water
was reported as a potential source of heavy metal such as Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd),
Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb), Nickel (Ni) and Chromium (Cr) in food items (Sharma, et al., 2006).
There is evidence to show
that agricultural soils have increased level of heavy metal as a result of
increase in anthropogenic activities, (Mc Laughlin and Singh, 1999). Heavy
metals are persistent in the environment so application of waste water for a
long time may increase their presence in the soil and subsequently in plants
(Bohn et al., 1985). Public awareness
of the issue of food contamination has been observed to increase because of the
health hazard posed by toxic metals present in the environment (Martin and
Coughtry, 1982; Cui et al., 2005).
This work was conducted
to assess the effect of using waste water from commercial fish culture
irrigation on soil characteristics and growth of Telfairia occidentalis (Fluted pumpkin, Ugu).
1.1 OBJECTIVES
OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study was to assess the
effect of waste water from fish culture on soil characteristics and growth of Telfairia occidentalis in irrigated
plots at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State.
The specific objectives are:
i.
To determine the mineral
content of waste water from fish culture at Michael Okpara University
Agriculture, Umudike Fish farm.
ii.
To assess the level of
some heavy metals in the soil and plant following irrigation with waste water
from fish culture on T. occidentalis plots.
iii.
To determine the growth
and yield of vegetable crops produced with the waste water from fish culture.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Intensity in crop management and the drive
to increase crop yield has increased demand on water resource for irrigation
purposes in many countries around the world (USEPA, 1992).
A
number of countries have developed guidelines that regulate how effluents
should be used for irrigation purposes. Examples of these guidelines are
summarized in the USEPA guidelines for water reuse.
In many regions of the world, this has
placed severe strains on existing resources with resulting environmental
impact. In a number of countries the re-use of waste water has been compounded
by prolonged periods of drought or seasons of low rain fall. In addition,
predicted climate impacts from global warming also point to further stresses on
water resources thus reducing the amount of water available for both irrigation
and the environment.
A key benefit of using waste water is that
it reduces the pressure on fresh water for irrigation. One possible mechanism is
the recycling of waste water and drainage water that can be used in the place
of other fresh water sources of irrigation.
This work investigated the effect of using
“waste water from fish culture for irrigation on the production of a vegetable
crop (Telfairia occidentalis) and the toxicity on the soil
and plant species.
1.3 JUSTIFICATION
There is a growing call for more efficient
use of water resource both in urban and rural communities. A major mechanism
that can be used to achieve greater efficiency is the re-use of water that
would have been discarded as waste into the environment after use. The use of waste
water for agricultural irrigation is often viewed as a positive means of
recycling water due to the potential large volumes of water involved.
Waste
water has the advantage of being constant, reliable water source and reduces
the amount of fresh water extracted and used from the environment. There are many
concerns and unknowns about the impact of re-using waste water in agricultural
practices both on the crop itself on the end users of the crops.
This therefore necessitated the study on
the effect of using effluent from fish culture for irrigation on soil
characteristics and growth of Telfairia
occidentalis at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike Fish Farm
(MOUAU Fish Farm), Abia State, Nigeria.
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