human activities, pollution, eutrophication, use of agricultural pesticides in catchment areas, jute retting. Excavation and large scale pit extraction disfgure oxbow lakes landscapes and limits their values for other (Ghosh and Biswas, 2015d). The effects of siltation, habitat destruction, and macrophyte infestation, isola- ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science 3(1): 36-44 (2018) https://doi.org/10.26832/24566632.2018.030104 This content is available online at AESA Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science Journal homepage: www.aesacademy.org e-ISSN: 2456-6632 INTRODUCTION Oxbow lakes being natural depressions and kidneys of the land- scape have great ecological and socio-economical importance (Ghosh and Biswas, 2015a, d). They are subject to various ARTICLE HISTORY ABSTRACT Received: 16 January 2018 Revised received: 31 January 2018 Accepted: 19 February 2018 The present study was carried out to assess the ecosystem of the Chhariganga, an oxbow lake in eastern India to assess the pollution due to jute retting and trophic status on broader aspects for its sustainable management. The physicochemical analyses of the studied oxbow lake showed the range with annual mean values of surface water temperature in ºC (11-37, 27.64±6.56), water transparency in cm (16-106, 45.82±23.39), water pH (7.4-8.8, 8.17±0.34), DO (2.60-7.85, 4.65±1.52 ppm), BOD (1.10-6.40, 2.98±1.59ppm), COD (70-90, 79±7.38ppm), NH 4 -N (0.026-0.093, 0.05±0.02ppm), NO 2 -N (0.008-0.08, 0.03±0.02ppm), NO 3 -N (0-2.459, 0.81±0.69ppm), OP (0.067- 0.62, 0.26±0.18ppm), total alkalinity (82-165, 120±24.03ppm), total hardness (70-138, 102.62±19.60ppm), GPP (0.30-1.80, 1.25± 0.47mgC/l/day), NPP (0.15-1.38, 0.95± 0.40mgC/l/day); sediment pH (6.8-7.9, 7.53±0.34) and sediment organic carbon in % (1.87-2.89, 2.17±0.28). The highest mean values of BOD (4.59ppm), COD (86.67ppm), OP (0.50ppm), sediment organic carbon (2.29%) were observed during monsoon whereas the lowest values of oxbow lake water’s transparency (27.00cm), pH (7.84), DO (3.63ppm) and NO 2 –N(0.01 ppm) contents were found during monsoon when jute retting process intensified in the oxbow lake. Compared to their values in pre-monsoon, mean values in monsoon showed an increase in BOD (182.57%) and OP content (167.64%) unlike reduction in water transparency (62.54%), GPP and NPP (both reduced by about 50%); The highest concentration of NH 4 -N and NO 3 -N were noticed during post-monsoon and OP during monsoon. The water transparency mean values showed sharp fall during monsoon from pre-monsoon. Physico-chemical analyses revealed that almost all parameters in oxbow lake did not show significant changes throughout the year unlike water transparency, BOD , NO 2 and especially OP content of water which otherwise showed significant changes throughout the year. The present semi-closed oxbow lake water was of poor to moderate quality and it was classified as oligo-mesotrophic in nutrient status with high to moderate organic pollution due to jute retting process which needs to be controlled and regulated for sustainable aquaculture in oxbow lake ecosystem. ©2018 Agriculture and Environmental Science Academy Keywords Gross primary productivity (GPP) Jute retting Net primary productivity (NPP) Oxbow lake Physico-chemical properties Water quality Citation of this article: Ghosh, D. and Biswas, J.K. (2018). Impact of jute retting on physicochemical profle of Chhariganga oxbow lake in Nadia district, West Bengal, India. Archives of Agriculture and Environmental Science, 3(1): 36-44 DOI: 10.26832/24566632.2018.030104 Impact of jute retting on physicochemical profle of Chhariganga oxbow lake in Nadia district, West Bengal, India Dipankar Ghosh 1 and Jayanta Kumar Biswas 1, 2* 1 Department of Ecological Studies, University of Kalyani, Kalyani-741235, (West Bengal), INDIA 2 International Centre for Ecological Engineering, Department of Ecological Studies, University of Kalyani, Kalyani -741235, (West Bengal), INDIA * Corresponding author’s E-mail: biswajoy2000@yahoo.com