STONE CRUSHING DUST AFFECTS THE YIELD AND QUALITY OF APRICOT FRUIT

It is difficult to estimate the effects of air pollutants because the organisms are exposed to a wide range of uncontrolled variables (parasites, weather conditions, complex mixture of pollutants). Stone crushing dust is one of the most important pollutants in the environment which poses a threat to the proper functioning of crops in the vicinity of stones crushing units. On the morphological point of view, the plants from polluted sites present important changes especially regarding their colors, shapes, leaf length, width, area and petiole length (Leghari and Zaidi, 2013). The particulate dust falling on the leaves of plants put serious effect on photosynthesis, stomatal functioning, productivity, pigment and metabolic constituents and also causes foliar injuries. A significant reduction on plant length, cover, number of leaves and total chlorophyll contents for Vitis vinifera L. was also observed by Leghari et al. (2014) due to road side dust particulate matters. The particulate dust falling on the leaves of plants and soil not only caused the reduction in yield and uptake and accumulation of elements from soil beside its major effects on soil quality and fertility (Nanos and Ilias, 2007; Migahid and El-Darier, 1995; Lerman and Darley, 1975; Mishra, 1991). The soil surrounding cement and stone producing factories, especially downwind areas, exhibit elevated pH level (Adamson et al., 1994; Mandre, 1997; Mandre et al., 1998). In a soil composition, it was found that there were elevated levels of chromium, silica, iron, calcium and thallium with contamination level decreasing dramatically with distance from the factories. These compositions affect vegetative growth (Asubiojo et al., 1991; Ade-Ademilua and Umebese, 2007). Proximate and nutrient analyses of edible plant and vegetables play a crucial role in assessing their nutritional significance (Pandey et al., 2006). Iqbal et al. (2014) reported that the mercury treatment produced toxic effect on seed germination, seedling growth and seedling dry weight of Albizia lebbeck. They also indicated that the increase in the concentration of mercury at 7 mM in the medium brought up different changes in the all growth parameter performance of A. lebbeck. Younis et al. (2015) studied the effect of particulate matter on biometric and biochemical attributes of two fruiting plants. They found that most of the biometric and biochemical parameters were affected by the dust accumulation. Plants are an integral part of life in many indigenous communities. A great attention has been given in developed countries about the effects of dust and metal toxicities on germination, growth of plant and their productivities. Stone dust and metal toxicity is an important factor governing germination of seeds, growth and productivity of plants. Therefore, the main objective of the study was to determine the effect of stone dust on yield and quality of an important tree P. armeniaca L. and its soil characteristic which is commonly known as Apricot fruit Pak. J. Agri. Sci., Vol. 55(2), 441-447; 2018 ISSN (Print) 0552-9034, ISSN (Online) 2076-0906 DOI: 10.21162/PAKJAS/18.4138 http://www.pakjas. com.pk