Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences
Title : | Synergistic Effect of Biochar and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in Improving Soil carbon and Enzyme Activities in Mine Land Soils - A Strategy To Re-establish Vegetative Cover in Degraded Mine Soils. |
Area of research : | Earth, Atmosphere & Environment Sciences |
Principal Investigator : | Dr. Prabha Duraisamy, Bharathiar University, Tamil Nadu |
Timeline Start Year : | 2022 |
Timeline End Year : | 2025 |
Contact info : | prabhasidd@gmail.com |
Equipments : | TOC Analyser
Chlorophyll meter
Digital Flame Photometer
Flurometer |
Details
Executive Summary : | Mining industries are crucial for infrastructure and energy, but they often face negative environmental impacts such as land degradation, water pollution, and heavy metal pollution. The National Research Council estimates that by 2030, up to 70 billion tonnes of material may be unearthed. Mining activity leads to the removal of natural vegetation and soils, resulting in barren land with barren soils. Tailings containing toxic elements and metalloids leach into aquatic ecosystems, leading to acid mine drainage. These contaminants are absorbed by living organisms and transported to water bodies. Effective re-vegetation is essential to reclaim degraded mine areas. However, contaminated sites with high heavy metal loads pose challenges for vegetation due to acidic pH, low organic matter and nutrients, degraded pedological structure, and low water availability. This proposal aims to provide an environmentally sustainable and economically viable remediation technique using biochar to promote effective restoration of mine contaminated sites. The proposal will investigate the synergistic effect of biochar and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in enhancing the carbon content of mine soils and improving enzyme activities, which are vital parameters in promoting plant growth and establishing vegetative cover for mine soil restoration. |
Total Budget (INR): | 60,65,240 |
Organizations involved