174 INTRODUCTION Chromium (Cr) is the most abundant metal found in the earth’s crust and due to its huge industrial use, it is considered to be important environmental contaminant released into the atmosphere. Chromium exists in two different stable oxidation states, trivalent (Cr 3+ ) and hexavalent (Cr 6+ ) chromium. Both these forms differ in terms of mobility, bioavailability and toxicity. Cr 6+ is more toxic than Cr 3+ . Cr 6+ forms chromate and dichromate and is highly soluble in water. Cr 3+ is comparatively less soluble in water and is required in trace amounts as an inorganic nutrient for animals. Both chromate and dichromate are considered to be negatively charged and there is a limited chance of it being adsorbed by organic materials. Cr 6+ is thus considered to be more mobile than that of Cr 3+ . Chromium is easily found in soil, water and biological material and occurs in the range from 5 to 1000 mg/kg in soils. Chromium is extensively used in industries like steel, leather, textile, etc. The hexavalent form of Cr is a biologically toxic oxidation state and to date there is no evidence indicating any potential biological role in plants. Both oxidized forms have the capacity to form complexes with other species. Cr can alter chloroplast membrane and ultra structure in plants. The phytotoxicity of both Cr 3+ and Cr 6+ has been studied in many higher and lower plants. Cr 3+ is thought essential for animals in trace amounts, can be toxic and induces oxidative stress. Cr 3+ is toxic to plants even at low concentration and reported to causes severe oxidative damage to plant cells. It can affect growth, water balance, pigment content and initiate lipid peroxidation causing oxidative damage to plants. On the other hand, Cr 6+ is more phytotoxic than Cr 3+ (Han et al, 2004) and retards growth, reduces the number of palisade and spongy parenchyma cells in leaves and increases the number of vacuoles and electron dense material. Irrigation of agricultural soil with sewage contaminated water with heavy metals from industrial effuents such as Cr has also been known to affect soil and plants. Chromium disturbs the metabolic processes Remediation of Phytotoxic effect of Chromium by Different Amendments in Berseem Crop Grown in Sewage and Tubewell Water Irrigated Soils Neeraj Rani and Dhanwinder Singh Department of Soil Science Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141001 (Punjab) ABSTRACT A screen house experiment was carried out to study the direct effect of chromium(Cr) application in the presence and absence of amendments in berseem crop grown on sewage and tube well water irrigated soils with three replications under factorial completely randomized block design. The results indicated that berseem dry matter yield (DMY) decreased signifcantly due to direct effect of Cr application but the presence of amendments increased the dry matter yield up to 80 mg/Kg of applied Cr. No harvestable yield was obtained at higher levels of chromium application. The chromium content and chromium uptake also increased signifcantly with increase in levels of applied chromium. The application of amendments decreased the chromium content and uptake. The toxic effect of Cr on crop could be mitigated more effectively with FYM application than lime and reduce risk of health hazards for human beings and animals. Key Words: Chromium, amendments, Berseem, Remediation, Sewage water, tube well water. Corresponding Author”s Email: neerajsoil@pau.edu J Krishi Vigyan 2018, 7(1) : 174-179 DOI : 10.5958/2349-4433.2018.00129.0 J Krishi Vigyan 2018, 7(1) : 174-179