Impacts of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluent on the Germination and Growth of Gram Seeds
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21276/pt.2025.v2.i2.4Keywords:
Waste water, Pollution, Physiochemical characteristics, Seed germination, Cicer arietinum L.Abstract
Different types of agro-based industrial effluents are generated from various sectors and discharged into the different water bodies as well as in soil, and these are seriously harming the biota of those areas. Nowadays, to reduce water consumption for irrigation, treated industrial waste is now commonly used. This study was conducted to evaluate the impacts of pulp and paper mill effluents on the growth of gram seeds. The Petri-plate culture technique was conducted to investigate the effects of pulp and paper mill effluents on gram seeds and the concentration of such effluents were taken in different concentrations i.e., 25.0 %, 50.0 %, 75.0 %, and 100.0 %, as well as one as control (distilled water) was used. Different physical-chemical parameters of paper mill effluent i.e., color, pH, temperature, total dissolved solids, suspended solids, chemical and biological oxygen demands, dissolved oxygen, total hardness, total alkalinity, and oil and grease were evaluated. Growth metrics like seedling growth and germination percentage of gram (Cicer arietium L. variety: Pusa 372) seeds were measured on regular basis within 24 hours of interval daily for assessment of growth responses. Results indicated that the positive effect on seeds growth and germination of gram seeds occurred at a lower level of concentration (25 %) of paper mill effluent but at higher concentration of paper mill effluents (75 and100 %) there were negative impacts on seeds growth and germination.
References
Subrahmanyam PVR, Hannmanulu V. Economics of waste water treatment in small paper mills. IPFTA. 1976;14:127. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a041344
Khanna PK, Mittar D, Marwaha SS, Kennedy JF. Characterization and bioblanching of paper mill effluents. Biopaper J. 1990; 10:16.
Deshpande AW, Olaniya RS. and Khanna, P. Integration of risk assessment with reliability concept: a case study of a paper mill. Risk Anal. 1991; 11(3): 393-397.
Kansal A, Siddiqui N, Gautam A. Wastewater treatment of pulp and paper industry: a review. J Environ Sci Eng. 2011; 53(2): 203-18.
Kirk TK, Jeffries TW, Leatham GF. Biotechnology: applications and implications for the pulp and paper industry. Tappi J. 1983: 66(5): 45-51. https://doi.org/10.2524/jtappij.39.19
Rangan SG. Pollution abatement in the paper industry. In: IPPTA Convention. 1987; 87:141-168.
CPPRI. Statistics of the Indian Paper and Newsprint Industry, Central Pulp and Paper Research Institute Saharanpur, 2005, India
Singh S. An overview of Indian agro-based paper mills. In: Tewari, P.K. (Ed.), Liquid asset, Proceedings of the Indo-EU workshop on promoting efficient water use in agro-based industries. TERI Press, New Delhi., 2004: 31-33. http://doi.org10.3354/cr00857
Ansari PM. Water conservation in pulp and paper, distillery, and sugar industry. In: The Indo-EU Workshop on Promoting Efficient Water Use in Agro-Based Industries, New Delhi, India, 2004.
Tewari et al., Efficient water use in industries: Cases from the Indian agro-based pulp and paper mills. Journal of Environ Mgt. 2009; 90: 265-273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.07.006
Thompson G, Swain J, Kay M, Forster CF. The treatment of pulp and paper mill effluent: a review. Bioresour Technol. 2001; 77(3): 275-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0960-8524(00)00060-2
CPCB, Delhi. Final document on revised classification of industrial sectors under Red, Orange, Green, and White categories, 2016.
Garg VK, Kaushik P. Influence of short-term irrigation of textile mill wastewater on the growth of chickpea cultivars. Chem Ecol. 2006; 22(3): 193-200. https://doi.org/10.1080/02757540500360410
Juwarkar AS, Bhalkar DV, Subrahmanyam PR. Effect of pulp and paper mill wastewater on soil properties. Indian J Environ Health. 1987; 29(4): 313-321.
Choudhary SK, Jha AN, Srivastava DK. Effect of paper mill effluent on seed germination and seedling growth of maize, Environ Ecol. 1987; 5(2):285-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/C2013-0-10684-8
Dutta SK, CL Boissya. Effect of paper mill effluent on the yield components of rice (Oryza sativa L. var Masuri). Rco Ems Censer. 2000; 6: 453-457.
Singh et al. Assessment of the pulp and paper mill effluent on growth, yield, and nutrient quality of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). J Environ Biol. 2002; 23(3): 283-288. http://doi.org/10.22438/jeb/42/1/MRN-1710
American Public Health Association. Standard methods for examination of water and wastewater, APHA, Washington, DC, 2010, pp. 17.
Rajannan G, Oblisami G. Effect of paper factory effluents on soil and crop plants. Indian J Environ Health. 1979; 21(2): 120-130.
Sahoo S, Mishra PC. Effect of Paper Mills Sludge on Soil Quality and Crop Production. Recent Adv Ecobiol Res. 1997; 2: 357.
Singh AK, Kumar A, Chandra R. Environmental pollutants of paper industry wastewater and their toxic effects on human health and ecosystem. Bioresour Technol. Rep. 2022; 20:101250.
Medhi UJ, Talukdar AK, Deka S. Effect of pulp and paper mill effluent on seed germination and seedling growth of Mustard (Brassica campestris), Pea (Pisum sativum) and Rice (Oryza sativa) seeds. Poll Res. 27(3): 437-442.
Reddy PG, Borse RD. Effect of Pulp and Paper Mill Effluent on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of Trigonella foenum-graceum L. (Methi). J Ind Pollut Control. 2001; 17: 165-169.
Kamlesh, Kidwai MK. Effect of sugar mill effluent on response of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) varieties. IJEAB. 2016; 1(4): 844-852. http://dx.doi.org/10.22161/ijeab/1.4.31
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
All data generated included in this article.
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 PhytoTalks
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Copyright and License Terms
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain the copyright to their work and grant the journal the right of first publication. The work is simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License permitting others to share it with proper acknowledgement of the authorship and its original publication in this journal.
- Authors may enter into additional, non-exclusive agreements for distributing the published version of their work (e.g., depositing it in an institutional repository or including it in a book), provided they acknowledge that the work was first published in this journal.
Open Access Policy
License
PhytoTalks is an open-access journal, allowing readers to access all published articles without registration. All articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC Attribution 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License summary:
This license allows others to:
-
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
-
Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially
Under the following terms: -
Attribution — appropriate credit must be given, a link to the license provided, and indication if changes were made.
Author Warranties
By submitting a manuscript to PhytoTalks, authors confirm that:
-
The work is original and does not infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, or other rights of third parties.
-
The work has not been published elsewhere (except as a preprint) and is not under consideration by another publication.
-
All necessary permissions for any third-party materials used in the manuscript have been obtained.
Citation Policy
When using or citing articles from PhytoTalks, proper attribution must be given to the original authors and the source, including a DOI link where available.
![Announcement: Special Conference Issue of Phytotalks We are pleased to announce that Phytotalks will publish a special issue featuring select peer-reviewed papers from the Third International Conference on Plant Functional Biology, an esteemed international gathering of experts in Plant Science]. This special issue will highlight cutting-edge research and innovative developments presented at the conference, offering our readers valuable insights into the latest advancements in the field. Stay tuned for this upcoming edition, which reflects our continued commitment to showcasing high-quality, impactful research.](https://phytotalks.com/public/site/images/afrozalam/img-20250701-wa0010.jpg)
