Effect of cadmium chloride on soybean in presence of arbuscular mycorrhiza and vermicompost

A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the combined effects of cadmium toxicity, application of vermicompost and inoculation of arbuscular mycorrhiza on soybean. The experiment was laid out in a completely randomized design (factorial) and replicated thrice. The treatments included arbuscular mycorrhiza in two levels (inoculation and non-inoculation in soil), vermicompost in two levels (application @ 5% of soil weight and non-application) and cadmium chloride in five levels (0, 20, 40, 80 and 160 mg kg⁻¹ of soil). The result showed that increasing concentrations of cadmium chloride significantly increased electrolyte leakage and leaf transpiration, and decreased photosynthetic rate, Fv/Fm, root weight, pod number per plant and grain weight per plant. Application of vermicompost and mycorrhiza decreased the toxic effects of cadmium chloride. Application of vermicompost increased Fv/Fm, grain weight per plant, number pods per plant and seed oil percent, and application of mycorrhiza increased root weight and photosynthetic rate.