Organic Amendments Enhance the Remediation Potential of Economically Important Crops in Weakly Alkaline Heavy Metal-Contaminated Bauxite Residues

Xingfeng Zhang, Qiankui Yu, Bo Gao (), Maosheng Hu, Hongxu Chen, Yexi Liang and Haifeng Yi
Additional contact information
Xingfeng Zhang: College of Tourism & Landscape Architecture, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Qiankui Yu: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control Theory and Technology, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Bo Gao: College of Tourism & Landscape Architecture, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Maosheng Hu: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control Theory and Technology, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Hongxu Chen: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control Theory and Technology, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Yexi Liang: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control Theory and Technology, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China
Haifeng Yi: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution Control Theory and Technology, College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology, Guilin 541004, China

Agriculture, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-27

Abstract: Heavy metal (HM) pollution in soil has emerged as a global concern. This study introduces a novel approach to ameliorate HM-contaminated bauxite residues (BRs) characterized by weak alkalinity and low nutrient levels. By cultivating economically important crops, this method aims to enhance the remediation of heavy metal-contaminated BR while simultaneously promoting economically important crop production. Using a pot experiment, we investigated the effects of four organic amendments (peat, cow dung, bagasse, and microbial fertilizer) on the growth and BR properties of four economically important crops (castor, ramie, sugarcane, and cassava). The application of these organic amendments obviously reduced the BRs pH by 0.6–2.22%. Organic amendment applications significantly increased the soil organic matter (SOM) content and cation exchange capacity (CEC) by 14.35 to 179.94% and 6.87 to 12.14%, respectively. Additionally, the use of organic amendments enhanced BR enzyme activity, with microbial fertilizer demonstrating a substantial increase in BR invertase activity from 131.49 to 687.61%. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) content remarkably increased, whereas catalase (CAT) activity did not show significant differences. HM content analysis in different plant parts revealed HMs primarily found in the plant roots. Organic amendments mitigate the transfer of HMs from roots to shoots, thereby reducing HM content in the available parts of economically important crops. The pot experiment results demonstrated the effectiveness of the four combinations in achieving both the repair and production objectives. These combinations include planting castor and ramie with cow dung, sugarcane with peat, and cassava with bagasse. These findings underscore the feasibility of cultivating economically important crops in HM-contaminated BRs, enhancing BR quality, and augmenting farmers’ incomes. This study provides a scientific basis for mine remediation and reclamation using BRs.

Keywords: heavy metal pollution; bauxite residues; organic amendments; economically important crops; soil properties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/1/15/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/1/15/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jagris:v:15:y:2024:i:1:p:15-:d:1552252

Access Statistics for this article

Agriculture is currently edited by Ms. Leda Xuan

More articles in Agriculture from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().