INTRODUCTION:

Compositae). They are native to the New World (North and South America) but have become Tagetes (Asteraceae)¹ belongs to Asteraceae family. Tagetes is a genus of 56 species²of annual and perennial mostly herbaceous plants in the sunflower family (Atereaceae or naturalized around the world and are considered a noxious invasive plant in many localities. They have pinnate green leaves. Blooms are naturally in golden, orange, yellow and white colors, often with maroon highlights. Floral heads are typically 0.1 to 4.6cm diameter, generally with both ray florets and disc florets. In horticulture, they tend to be planted as annuals, although the perennial species are gaining popularity. Depending on the species, Tagetes grow well in almost any sort of soil. Most horticultural selections grow best in soil with good drainage. The name Tagetes is from the name of the Etruscan Tagetes³.The common name in English “marigold” is derived from “Mary’s Gold”, a name once exclusively applied to calendula. Depending on the species, marigold foliage has a musky, pungent scent, though some varieties have been bred to be scentless. It is said to deter some common insect pests, as well as nematodes.

Tagetes are hence often used in companion planting for tomato, eggplant, chili, pepper, tobacco and potato. Some of the perennial species are deer, rabbit, rodent and peccary resistant. It has been used as a source of essential oil for the perfume industry known as tagete and as a flavorant in the food and tobacco industries. It is commonly cultivated in South Africa, where the species is also used a useful pioneer plant in the reclamation of disturb land. The florets of Tagetes erecta are rich in the orange-yellow carotenoid lutein and are used as a food color in the European Union for foods such as pasta, vegetable oil, margarine, mayonnaise, salad dressing, baked goods, confectionary, dairy products, ice cream, yogurt, citrus juice and mustard. In the United States, however, the powders and extracts are only approved as colorants in poultry feed. Marigolds are recorded as a food plant for some Lepidoptera caterpillars including the Dot Moth and a nectar source for other Butterflies. They are often part of Butterfly gardening plantings. It is used to prepare a sweetish, anise flavored medicinal tea in Mexico. It is also used as a culinary herb in many warns climates, as a substitute for tarragon, and offered in the nursery “Texas tarragon” or “Mexican mint marigold”. Huacatay paste is used to make the popular potato dish called ocopa. Having both “green” and “yellow/orange” notes, the taste and odor of fresh Tagetes minuta is like a mixture of sweet basil, tarragon, mint and citrus. It is also used as a medicinal tea in some areas ⁴. It is also used in the Day of dead celebrations. The marigold is also widely cultivated in India and Thailand, particularly the species T.erecta. Vast quantities of marigolds are used in garlands and decoration for weddings, festivals and religious events. Marigold cultivation is extensively seen in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Karnataka, UP etc,⁵. Tagetes are regarded as one of the national symbols and are often in songs, poems and tales. Other marigold shave other uses around the world⁶., known as raw spent wash (RSW), which is known for high biological oxygen demand (BOD: Molasses (one of the main byproducts of sugar industry) is the chief source for the production of ethanol in distilleries by fermentation method. About 08 (eight) liters of wastewater is generated for every liter of ethanol production in distilleries5000-8000mg/L) and chemical oxygen demand (COD: 25000-30000mg/L), undesirable color and foul odor ⁷. Discharge of RSW into open field or nearby water bodies results in environmental, water and soil pollution including threat to plant and animal lives. The RSW is highly acidic and contains easily oxidizable organic matter with very high BOD and COD⁸. Also, spent wash contains high organic nitrogen and nutrients ⁹. By installing biomethenation plant in distilleries, reduces the oxygen demand of RSW, the resulting spent wash is called primary treated spent wash (PTSW) and primary treatment to RSW increases the nitrogen (N), potassium (K), and phosphorous (P) contents and decreases calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), chloride (Cl^-), and sulphate (SO₄^2-)¹⁰. PTSW is rich in potassium (K), sulphur (S), nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P) as well as easily biodegradable organic matter and its application to soil has been reported to increase yield of sugar cane, wheat and rice¹¹, Quality of groundnut¹² and physiological response of soybean ¹³. Diluted spent wash could be used for irrigation purpose without adversely affecting soil fertility¹⁴, seed germination and crop productivity ¹⁵. The diluted spent wash irrigation improved the physical and chemical properties of the soil and further increased soil micro flora^16,17,18. Twelve pre-sowing irrigations with the diluted spent wash had no adverse effect on the germination of maize but improved the growth ¹⁹. Diluted spent wash increases the growth of shoot length, leaf number per plant, leaf area and chlorophyll content of peas²⁰. Increased concentration of spentwash causes decreased seed germination, seedling growth and chlorophyll content in Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) and the spentwash could safely used for irrigation purpose at lower concentration ²¹. The spent wash contained an excess of various forms of cations and anions, which are injurious to plant growth and these constituents should be reduced to beneficial level by diluting spent wash, which can be used as a substitute for chemical fertilizer²². The spent wash could be used as a complement to mineral fertilizer to sugarcane²³. The spent wash contained N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S and thus valued as a fertilizer when applied to soil through irrigation with water²⁴. The application of diluted spent wash increased the uptake of Zinc (Zn), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe) and Manganese (Mn) in maize and wheat as compared to control and the highest total uptake of these were found at lower dilution levels than at higher dilution levels. Mineralization of organic material as well as nutrients present in the spent wash was responsible for increased availability of plant nutrients. Diluted spent wash increase the uptake of nutrients, height, growth and yield of leaves vegetables²⁵ ,nutrients of cabbage and mint leaf ²⁶, nutrients of top vegetable ²⁷, pulses, condiments, root vegetables , of some root vegetables in untreated and spent wash treated soil , yields of top vegetables (creepers). However, no information is available on the study of sprouting and growth of Tagetes flowering plants irrigated by distillery spentwash. Therefore, the present investigation was carried out to study the influence of different proportions of spentwash on the sprouting and growth of Tagetes.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

physico-chemical parameters and amount of nitrogen (N), potassium (K), phosphorous (P) and sulphur (S) present in the primary treated diluted spent wash (1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 SW) were analyzed by standard methods ²⁸. The PTSW was used for irrigation with a dilution of 1:1, 1:2 and1:3. A composite soil sample collected (prior to cultivation) was dried under shadow, powdered and analyzed for physico-chemical properties^29-34. Flowering plant selected for the present investigation was Tagetes. The seeds were planted in different pots 30cm(h), 25cm(dia) and irrigated (by applying 5-10mm/cm² depends upon the climatic condition) with raw water (RW), 1:1 SW, 1:2 SW and 1:3 SW at the dosage of twice a week and rest of the period with raw water as required. Cultivation was conducted in triplicate, in each case sprouting, growth were recorded.

Table: 1 Chemical characteristics of distillery Spentwash

Chemical parameters	PTSW	1:1 PTSW	1:2 PTSW	1:3 PTSW
pH	7.57	7.63	7.65	7.66
Electrical conductivity^a	26400	17260	7620	5330
Total solids^b	47200	27230	21930	15625
Total dissolved solids^b	37100	18000	12080	64520
Total suspended solids^b	10240	5380	4080	1250
Settleable solids^b	9880	4150	2820	3240
COD^b	41250	19036	10948	2140
BOD^b	16100	7718	4700	2430
Carbonate^b	Nil	Nil	Nil	Nil
Bicarbonate^b	12200	6500	3300	1250
Total Phosphorous^b	40.5	22.44	17.03	10.80
Total Potassium^b	7500	4000	2700	1620
Calcium^b	900	590	370	190
Magnesium^b	1244.16	476.16	134.22	85
Sulphur^b	70	30.2	17.8	8.4
Sodium^b	520	300	280	140
Chlorides^b	6204	3512	3404	2960
Iron^b	7.5	4.7	3.5	2.1
Manganese^b	980	495	288	160
Zinc^b	1.5	0.94	0.63	0.56
Copper^b	0.25	0.108	0.048	0.026
Cadmium^b	0.005	0.003	0.002	0.001
Lead^b	0.16	0.09	0.06	0.003
Chromium^b	0.05	0.026	0.012	0.008
Nickel^b	0.09	0.045	0.025	0.012
Ammonical Nitrogen^b	750.8	352.36	283.76	178
Carbohydrates^c	22.80	11.56	8.12	6.20

Units: a – μS, b – mg/L, c- %, PTSW - Primary treated distillery spent wash

Table: 2 Amount of N, P, K and S (Nutrients) in distillery Spent wash

Chemical parameters	PTSW	1:1 PTSW	1:2 PT SW	1:3 PTSW
Ammonical Nitrogen^b	750.8	352.36	283.76	160.5
Total Phosphorous^b	40.5	22.44	17.03	11.2
Total Potassium^b	7500	4000	2700	1800
Sulphur^b	70	30.2	17.8	8.6

Unit: b – mg/L, PTSW - Primary treated distillery spent wash

Table: 3 Characteristics of experimental soil

Parameters	Values
Coarse sand^c	9.24
Fine sand^c	40.14
Slit^c	25.64
Clay^c	20.60
pH (1:2 soln)	8.12
Electrical conductivity^a	530
Organic carbon^c	1.64
Available Nitrogen^b	412
Available Phosphorous^b	210
Available Potassium^b	110
Exchangeable Calcium^b	180
Exchangeable Magnesium^b	272
Exchangeable Sodium^b	113
Available Sulphur^b	330
DTPA Iron^b	204
DTPA Manganese^b	206
DTPA Copper^b	10
DTPA Zinc^b	55

Units: a – μS, b – mg/L , c- %

Table: 4 Characteristics of experimental soil

(After harvest)

Parameters	Values
Coarse sand^c	9.69
Fine sand^c	41.13
Slit^c	25.95
Clay^c	24.26
pH (1:2 soln)	8.27
Electrical conductivity^a	544
Organic carbon^c	1.98
Available Nitrogen^b	434
Available Phosphorous^b	218
Available Potassium^b	125
Exchangeable Calcium^b	185
Exchangeable Magnesium^b	276
Exchangeable Sodium^b	115
Available Sulphur^b	337
DTPA Iron^b	212
DTPA Manganese^b	210
DTPA Copper^b	12
DTPA Zinc^b	60

Units: a – μS, b – mg/L,

Table: 5 Growth of Tagetes (Asteraceae) plant at different irrigations (cm)

15^th 22^nd 29^th

(Day)

1:1SW

15^th 22^nd 29^th(Day)

1:2 SW

15^th 22^nd 29^th(Day)

1:3 SW

15^th 22^nd 29^th

(Day)

25, 26, 29

06, 08, 10

26, 27, 29

28, 29, 33

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

(Mn), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), chromium (Cr) and nickel (Ni) Chemical composition of PTSW, 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3 SW such as pH, electrical conductivity, total solids (TS), total dissolved solids (TDS), total suspended solids (TSS), settelable solids (SS), chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), carbonates, bicarbonates, total phosphorous (P), total potassium (K), ammonical nitrogen (N), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulphur (S), sodium (Na), chlorides (Cl), iron (Fe), manganese were analyzed and tabulated (Table-1).Amount of N, P, K and S contents are presented (Table-2). Characteristics of experimental soils such as pH, electrical conductivity, the amount of organic carbon, available nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), potassium (K), sulphur (S), exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), DTPA iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were analyzed and tabulated (Table-3 and 4). It was found that the soil composition is fit for the cultivation of plants, because it fulfils all the requirements for the growth of plants. Sprouting and growth of Tagetes plant leaves, uptakes of all the parameters were very good in both 1:2 and 1:3 spent wash as compared to1:1, SW and raw water. In both 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 spent wash irrigation, the uptake of the nutrients such as fat, calcium, zinc, copper and vitamins carotene and vitamin c were almost similar but the uptake of the nutrients and parameters such as protein, fiber, carbohydrate, energy, magnesium and phosphorous were much more in the case of 1:1, 1:2, spent wash irrigation than 1:3, and raw water irrigations (Table-5). This could be due to the more absorption of plant nutrients present in spent wash by plants at higher dilutions. It was also found that no negative impact of heavy metals like lead, cadmium and nickel on the leaves of Tagetes plant. The soil was tested after the harvest, found that there was no adverse effect on soil characteristics (Table-4).

CONCLUSION:

It is found that the nutrients uptake in the Sprouting and growth of Tagetes (Asteraceae) plant were largely influenced in case of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:3 SW irrigations than with raw water. But 1:3 distillery spent wash shows more uptakes of nutrients when compared to 1:2 SW. This could be due to the maximum absorption of nutrients by plants at more diluted spent wash. After harvest, soil has tested; found that there was no adverse effect on characteristics. Hence the spentwash can be conveniently used for irrigation purpose with required dilution without affecting environment and soil.

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Received on 18.08.2011 Modified on 02.09.2011

Asian J. Research Chem. 4(10): Oct., 2011; Page 1608-1611