Effects of municipal solid waste compost
application on tea (
Camellia sinensis
L.) cultivation
(Tocklai Vegetative clone 1 and Tocklai Vegetative clone
23) was studied with respect to biomass yield, soil nickel
risk, nickel uptake and transfer to tea infusion. Application
of municipal solid waste compost @ 2–6 t ha
-1 in soil
lowered the risk assessment code of nickel by increasing
non-labile nickel pool. Reduced Ni translocation factor
from root to stem to leaf led to low nickel accumulation in
leaf indicating high nickel tolerance ability of tea. Tea
infusions from Tocklai Vegetative clone 1 and Tocklai
Vegetative clone 23 with municipal solid waste compost
application in soil up to 10 t ha
-1 showed leaf nickel
contents below permissible limit, i.e., from 0.002 to 1.2 and
0.01 to 1.1 µg L
-1, respectively. Municipal solid waste
compost could therefore be a valuable alternative for soil
amendment subject to non-enhancement of soil nickel
storage on long-term use. The one-way analysis of variance
along with Duncan’s multiple range tests showed significant
differences between pair of treatments. Hierarchical
cluster analysis revealed formation of three different
groups between the clones and treatments imposed.
