G Dhanya*, Vinod Gopal V and DS Jaya

Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kerala, Kariavattom Campus, Kerala, India

*Corresponding Author: G Dhanya, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Kerala, Kariavattom Campus, Kerala, India. Email: gdhanyakrish@gmail.com.

Received: April 26, 2023; Published: June 23, 2023

Abstract

Soil microorganisms play a vital role in maintaining soil fertility and productivity by driving most of the soil processes. The present study focused on the influence of sewage irrigation on biological activities of soil under vetiver coverage and it helps us to gain a better understanding of the use of biological properties as soil quality indicators. The study includes the assessment of soil pH, organic carbon, heavy metals, changes in soil microbial processes such as microbial biomass carbon (MBC), active microbial biomass carbon (AMBC), basal soil respiration (BSR), metabolic quotient (qCO2), total microbial activity (FDA hydrolysis) and activities of enzymes such as protease, dehydrogenase, phosphatases, peroxidase, and invertase, as it serves as potential indicators for soil quality measurement resulting from sewage irrigation in soils with vetiver cultivation. The study revealed that although there is a significant concentration of heavy metals in sewage, sewage irrigation improved the biological characteristics of vetiver cultivated soils to a good extent as is evident from the increased MBC, AMBC, BSR, FDA hydrolysis, enzymatic activities, and decreased qCO₂ in soils. The nutrient-rich sewage might have increased the microbial population and stimulated the microbial processes in the rhizosphere of the vetiver by reducing the impacts of toxic heavy metals.

 Keywords: Biological Properties; Sewage; Soil Quality Indicator; Vetiver

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Citation

Citation: G Dhanya., et al. “Influence of Sewage Irrigation on Microbial Indicators of Soil Quality Under Vetiver Coverage". Acta Scientific Microbiology 6.7 (2023): 60-69.

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Copyright: © 2023 G Dhanya., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.