Speaker
Description
Wastewater irrigation is a common practice in developing countries. It can be exploited in a sustainable development strategy. However, the use of wastewater in agriculture can have a serious impact on the environment. The work presented aims to assess the capacity of Alfalfa to accumulate Cadmium and Copper on a reconstituted soil irrigated by wastewater. Medicago sativa plants were grown on a reconstituted soil with peat and earthy materials. The Medicago sativa plants were irrigated by two types of wastewater sampled from an urban effluent and an industrial effluent of the city of Safi (Morocco). The results show that the wastewater used in our studies brings considerable contents of Cd and Cu. the Cd and Cu contents measured in the reconstituted soil show a remarkable enrichment of the reconstituted soil, irrigation by urban and industrial wastewater, by Cd and by Cu. Medicago sativa plants accumulated varying concentrations of Cd and Cu. The highest levels were observed in the aerial parts of Medicago sativa plants irrigated by industrial wastewater. Medicago sativa plants, cultivated on the reconstituted soil and irrigated by urban and industial wastewater, showed remarkable performances of Cd and Cu accumulation. This makes it possible to propose other studies in order to exploit this plant in a system for the dépollution of contaminated soils by metallic trace elemants and/or for réhiabilitation of degraded areas.
