Impact of fertilizer levels and treated sewage water on heavy metal uptake,growth, agrometeorological indices, and quality of wheat

A field experiment was conducted at Vegetable Research Farm, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, India to study the agro-physiological, agrometeorological, heavy metals, and quality parameters of wheat under different fertilizer levels and treated sewage water application on sandy loam soil. Among varieties, signifi- cantly higher yield attributes viz effective tillers and yield were observed with variety HD 3086 being at par with WH 1105 over HD 2967, WH 1124, and DBW 90. A higher value of agrometeorological indices viz. thermal (2.67 kg/ ha/0 C day), helio-thermal (0.77 kg/ha degree day hr), and photothermal (0.23 kg/ha degree day hr) use efficiencies were found with variety HD 3086 over other varieties. Among fertilizer levels, significantly higher yield attributes and grain yield were found with 125 % RDF over 75 and 100 % RDF. Significantly higher values of thermal, heliothermal, and photothermal use efficiencies were observed with the application of 125 % RDF over 75 and 100 % RDF Neither the varieties nor the fertility levels bring any significant variation in normalized difference vegeta- tion index and canopy temperature. However, varying levels of fertilizer did have a substantial impact on chloro- phyll content. Similarly, quality parameters viz. hectoliter weight and protein content were not affected significantly by varieties and fertilizer levels. However, sedimentation value was significantly affected by varieties and fertilizer levels. Heavy metal concentration was found in wheat grain, but these were within the permissible limit.