Analysis of Nutrients, Heavy Metals and Microbial Content In Organic and Non-Organic Agriculture Fields of Bareilly Region- Western Uttar Pradesh, India

Beenam Saxena¹, Asha Rani^2*, R Z Sayyed³  and Hesham Ali El-Enshasy^4,5,6

¹Department of Zoology, Bareilly College, Bareilly, 243005, UP, India

²Department of Botany, Bareilly College, Bareilly, 243005, UP, India

³PSGVP Mandal’s, Arts, Science and Commerce College, Shahada, Maharashtra, India 425409.

⁴Institute of Bioproduct Development, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

⁵School of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

⁶City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications, New Burg AlArab, Alexandria, Egypt.

Corresponding Author E-mail : sayyedrz@gmail.com

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/2843

ABSTRACT: Increasing consciousness about ill-effects of and health hazards caused due to use of agrochemical and consumer's choice of chemical-free food has led to the transition in farming practices from inorganic to organic farming. The majority of agricultural practices rely on conventional farming of pouring heavy doses of agrochemicals for increasing the yield of agriculture production. Analysis of quantity and types of nutrients and soil microbes present in the field may help in minimizing the doses of chemical fertilizers and or biofertilizers/organic inputs. A comparative analysis of physicochemical parameters, heavy metal ions and bacterial count of soil samples collected from three types of agriculture fields, organic farming site, chemical fertilizer fields and buffer zone (i.e. between organic and chemical farming site) located in Tigra village Bareilly District, UP, India was performed. The results revealed that soil from organic farming sites contained good amounts of nutrients, rich bacterial count, and fewer amounts of heavy metals as compared to the soil collected from non-organic farming fields and buffer zone. This suggests the organic farming practices as sustainable, as the best way to retain natural soil flora and to a way to minimize/prevent the contamination of agriculture fields with hazardous chemicals and toxic metal ions.

KEYWORDS: Conventional Farming; Heavy Metals Ions; Microbial Load; Sustainable Farming

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