The Effect of Toxicity Stress on The Germination, Growth and Yield of Pennisetum glaucum (Var. Super Sosat)

Abstract

The performance of the Pennisetum glaucum subjected to various concentrations of spent engine oil (0, 10mL, 20mL and 30mL) was the aim of this study. Twelve pots were used for the experiment arranged in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replicate each and a control. The data of each parameter (germination percentage, leaf length, leaf number, stem width, plant height and fruit weight) was subjected to analysis of variance  using Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test for mean separation. All the parameters considered were significantly affected by the increase in concentrations of spent engine oil in comparison to the control. Germination percentage was poor for 20mL and 30mL concentrations of spent engine oil (40% and 25% respectively) whereas 100% germination was observed for control and 10mL concentrations, though seedling emergence was faster in control than 10mL concentration of spent engine oil.  The plant height, stem width, leaves number and fruit quality were observed to performed better in control and 10mL concentration of spent oil while in 20mL and 30mL concentrations, all parameters observed were poor in comparison to control. The heavy metals (Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb and Zn) accumulation also increased with increased concentrations of spent engine oil applied which obviously was responsible for the toxicity effects such as wilting, chlorosis, stunted growth and poor fruits harvest observed. Therefore indiscriminate disposal of spent engine oil is a threat to the overall performance of P. glaucum and need to be checkmated to eliminate such negative impact on P. glaucum production.