JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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Cadmium is a toxic element in plant nutrition and is considered as a contaminant of food and feed. A greenhouse experiment was carried out to examine the effects of combined application of cadmium and zinc on responses of wheat on a clay loam soil texture. This experiment was designed in a factorial experiment with randomized complete block design (RCBD) and four replicates per treatment. Three levels of cadmium (Cd 0, Cd 50 and Cd 100 mg kg-1) and three levels of zinc (Zn 0, Zn 50 and Zn 100 mg kg-1) were added to the pot in factorial(9 treatments), and then Chamran seed variety of wheat (triticum aestivum L.) was planted in each pot. The statistical analyses showed that Cd application significantly (P0.01) decreased grain, straw, and total yield, but Zn application increased these parameters significantly (P0.01). Application of Cd separately decreased the grain yield by 61.5 while application of Zn separately increased the grain yield by 36.9. Cd application increased the Cd concentration and uptake by grain and straw as well as total uptake but by increasing Zn application, Cd uptake was decreased by wheat. Cd concentration was higher in straw than that grain, but Zn showed a different trend. Decreasing Zn applications decreased total uptake of Cd from 42.9 in Zn0 to 7.8 mg kg-1 in Zn100 treatment. Although this soil was very calcareous, this characteristic did not control Cd absorbtion.