Growth, yield and metal residues in Solanum melongena grown in fly ash amended soils.

Fly ash from Chandrapura Thermal Power Station, Bokaro, Jharkhand (India) was used for amending soil at levels 0, 60, 120, 180 and 240 tons ha(-1) in which, brinjal (Solanum melongena) was grown and elemental residues of amended soil and plant parts were enumerated. Fly ash amendments caused significant improvement in soil quality, water holding capacity (52.64-65.76), pH (6.45-7.05), composition of photosynthetic pigment (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, total chlorophyll and carotenoid) and few growth parameters (fresh weight, root length, shoot length) of brinjal with the increase in fly ash amendments. Fruit (edible part) of plants grown in fly ash amended soils had metal residues (mg kg(-1)) like Cr (0.80-1.16), Co (0.34-1.46), Ni (0.85-1.00), Zn (24.41-32.33), Cu (10.61-15.49), and Mo (0.49-1.46) within the permissible limits. Results indicate that soil amended with fly ash at 180 tons ha(-1), not only improved the physical properties of the soil but also contributed to the better growth and yield of brinjal.