Abstract

RUIZ, JULIANA. Evaluation of treatments to reduce cadmium concentration in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) irrigated with water from the Bogota River. rev.colomb.cienc.hortic. [online]. 2011, vol.5, n.2, pp.233-243. ISSN 2011-2173.

The water of the Bogota River has high levels of contamination including heavy metals and its waters are used to irrigate crops in important areas. The present study was conducted in the Marengo Agricultural Center (Mosquera, Cundinamarca) and its objective was to evaluate easy treatments to reduce cadmium accumulation in lettuce. The treatments used were: (1) Selective weed growth in the plots, (2) CaCO₃ application before plant transplanting, (3) Compost application before plant transplanting and (4) the Control. This study was performed with a randomized complete block design with three repetitions. Amounts of cadmium in the water, soil and lettuce were measured. Measurements of plant growth, pH and electrical conductivity of the soil were also taken. The results showed high initial concentrations of cadmium in the soil (3.97 mg kg^-1). These concentrations were found to be significantly lower 46 days after transplanting in the weed treatment (3.38 mg kg^-1). The compost treatment significantly lowered the concentration of cadmium in lettuce compared to the other treatments and quickly, significantly increased fresh weight compared to the other treatments without fertilizer; no relationship between the decrease of cadmium and increased pH was found.

Keywords : compost; weed; CaCO₃; heavy metals; contamination.

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