Comparative influence of biochar and doped biochar with Si-NPs on the growth and anti-oxidant potential of Brassica rapa L. under Cd toxicity

Nowadays, the whole world is facing agricultural challenges; excess heavy metal (Cd) stress is one of them. In this study, the efficacy of biochar and doped biochar (Silicon & Iron) was investigated on Soil to mitigate the stress of Cd in Brassica rapa L. Total eight treatments were used, Control (T1), NaCl+Cd(NO3)2 (T2), NaCl+Cd(NO3)2 + Biochar (T3), SiNPs (T4), SiNPs+Biochar(T5), SiNPs+NaCl+Cd(NO3)2 (T6), SiNPs+NaCl+Cd(NO3)2 + Biochar (T7), Biochar (T8) while, the morphology study of soil was done with SEM. The results revealed that Electric conductivity was highest in T3 and T5, total protein T4 (11.25%), and phenolic content in T5 and T8 (13.69% & 7.19%) is greatly influenced, Likewise, malondialdehyde contents and H2O2 activity in T2 & T3, Chlorophyll a (T3 and T4) and Chlorophyll b (T3, T7, and T8) was influenced up to a certain value when we compared with control respectively. It is concluded that the biochar and Si NPs enriched biochar are excellent choices for the mitigation of heavy metal (Cd) stress in B. rapa L.