Publications by authors named "Afia Zia"

Fluoride (F) is an emerging pollutant that originates from multiple sources and adversely affects plant growth and nutrient bioavailability in soil. This greenhouse study investigated the effects of soil F (0, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 mg kg) on morpho-physiological growth characteristics of wheat, soil F contents, and bioavailability and uptake of F, phosphorus (P), sulphur (S), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), aluminium (Al), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), silicon (Si) and zinc (Zn) by wheat. Higher F significantly reduced plant height and number of leaves particularly at early growth stages and increased visible leaf injury index.

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A field study was conducted on the reuse of wastewater from Mardan city to evaluate its risk of contaminating soil and wheat grains at different NPK levels. Three irrigation sources i.e.

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A field experiment was conducted during the Rabi season 2017-2018 (October-March) at the University of Agriculture, Peshawar research farm to examine the influence of different nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) levels on two different oat varieties: Australian and Ukrainian. The treatments included control and three levels of nitrogen and phosphorus at 30, 60, and 90 kg ha. The treatments were arranged in randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated three times.

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In calcareous soils, phosphorus (P) availability to plant is impaired due to the formation of insoluble complexes with calcium and magnesium. Therefore, this study was executed to compare the P use efficiency (PUE) of four different P sources [rock phosphate (RP), acidulated rock phosphate (ARP), single super phosphate (SSP) and di ammonium phosphate (DAP)] alone or pre-treated with organic amendments (farm yard manure (FYM) enriched compost, simple compost and humic acid (HA)) along with control in maize crop under calcareous soils. All treatments irrespective of P sources received 90 kg PO ha.

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Atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition is believed to accelerate dissolved organic carbon (DOC) production and could lead to increased heavy metal mobility into water resources. We sampled intact soil cores from the Isle of Skye with low background N deposition history and having Serpentine rock known for its higher heavy metal concentrations including zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and lead (Pb). The effects of 16 (16kgN) and 32 kg N ha year (32kgN), and liming with 32kgN (32kgN+Lime) on soil solution chemistry and heavy metal mobilization were investigated over the 15-month study.

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A significant body of knowledge suggests that soil solution pH and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) strongly influence metal concentrations and speciation in porewater, however, these effects vary between different metals. This study investigated the factors influencing soil and soil solution concentrations of copper (Cu), lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) under field conditions in upland soils from UK having a wide range of pH, DOC and organic matter contents. The study primarily focussed on predicting soil and soil solution metal concentrations from the data on total soil metal concentrations (HNO extracts) and soil and soil solution properties (pH, DOC and organic matter content).

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