UTILIZING COMPOST AND BIOCHAR IN ENHANCING PHYTOREMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL

A pot experiment was carried out at a private farm to evaluate the effective roll of the organic amendments (compost and biochar) as well as the plant cultivated (sugar beet) Beta Vulgaris L. on partial removing of heavy metals from the contaminated soil at Berkat EL-Saba region of Menoufia Governorate, Egypt. Compost and biochar were added into the soil at rates of 0, 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0%. A completed randomized block design with three replicates was applied. Soil EC (dSm-1), CEC (cmole Kg-1), OM (%) and available Fe, Mn Zn, Cu, Co, Cd, Ni and Pb (mgkg-1) were augmented with application of compost and biochar. Soil pH was slightly raised with biochar however, it reduced with compost addition. A significant enhancement in the fresh and dry weights of sugar beet plant and its content from the determined heavy metals obviously observed with the two amendments applied. The high uptake from determined heavy metals by sugar beet plants may attract the attention to the importance of this plant in remediating the contaminated soil with heavy metals.