Effect of air pollutants on physiological parameters and yield attributes of paddy and wheat crops in Faridabad region, India Priya Choudhary* Amity Institute of Environmental Science, Amity University, Noida -201301 (Uttar Pradesh), India Shakeel Ahmad Khan Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi -110012, India Ambrina Sardar Khan Amity Institute of Environmental Science, Amity University, Noida -201301 (Uttar Pradesh), India Richa Dave Nagar Amity Institute of Environmental Science, Amity University, Noida -201301 (Uttar Pradesh), India *Corresponding author. Email: priyaenvi91@gmail.com Article Info https://doi.org/10.31018/ jans.v14i1.3108 Received: October 27, 2021 Revised: February 2, 2022 Accepted: February 6, 2022 This work is licensed under Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). © : Author (s). Publishing rights @ ANSF. ISSN : 0974-9411 (Print), 2231-5209 (Online) journals.ansfoundation.org Research Article INTRODUCTION Rice and wheat crops are the staple foods of India. The low supply and poor quality of these crops may affect billions of people in the country. Simultaneously, these crops provide food security and livelihood to millions of rural populations (Gupta and Seth, 2007). The rapid growth of the world population would cause an increase in the demand for rice, and by 2025, the production of paddies needs to be increased by 60% of what is cur- rently produced to meet the demand for food (Gupta et al., 2017). Increased urbanization, industrialization and transportation have worsened the condition of air quality in India (Mina et al., 2013). Air pollution has adverse effects on paddies and wheat crops, as it may affect the quality and quality of the yield (Ramya et al., 2021; Mina et al., 2021). Plants are affected by pollu- tants either directly through leaf exposure or indirectly via acidification of soil through wet deposition. Due to continuous exposure to pollutants, plants show chang- es in physiological parameters, and further accumula- tion may also result in visible injuries (Braun et al., 2017). Shi et al. (2009) found that ozone enhancement in an open air chamber resulted in a reduction in plant Abstract Air pollution is one of the major problems in the Delhi NCR region due to industrial emissions, traffic congestion, population growth and rapid development. Air pollutants deteriorate the environment, human health, plants and crops. This study focuses on the physiological parameters and yield attributes of paddy and wheat crops in the vicinity of a gas -based national thermal power plant (NTPC) located in Faridabad. Ten sites were selected, including the control site within a 10 km aerial distance from the exhaust chimney stack of the power plant. Major air pollutants, such as NOx, SOx, O 3 , and PM 10, were monitored using Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines. The air quality index (AQI) was moderately polluted at the sampling site, while good air quality was observed at the control site. The results showed that the photosynthetic rates were reduced to 46% in paddies and 48% in wheat crops. In the vegetative growth stage of paddies and wheat crops, the stomatal conductance of pad- dies decreased to 0.11 mmol m -2 s - 1 compared to 0.19 mmol m -2 s - 1 at the control site. The transpiration rate ranged from 0.6 to 7.7 μmol/m 2 /s in paddies and 1.2 to 9.8 μmol/m 2 /s in wheat crops. The R 2 value ranged from 0.702 to 0.985, which shows a strong impact of the air quality index on the physiological parameters of crops. The yield reduction due to air pollution in paddies was 11.6%, and in wheat crops, it was 14.8%. This study also provides an inventory of air pollutants in Faridabad region and their subsequent impacts on crops. Keywords: Air, Paddy, Photosynthetic Rate, Wheat, Yield How to Cite Choudhary, P. et al. (2022). Effect of air pollutants on physiological parameters and yield attributes of paddy and wheat crops in Faridabad region, India. Journal of Applied and Natural Science, 14(1), 36 - 44. https://doi.org/10.31018/jans.v14i1.3108