Insights into the Remediation of Cadmium-Contaminated Vegetable Soil: Co-application of Low-Cost By-products and Microorganism

Cadmium (Cd) is an unessential metal for plants that is popular in agricultural soil due to the activities of humans, such as urban refuse, phosphate fertilizers, and polluted irrigation water. Cd poses a severe threat to human health; therefore, remediation and prevention of Cd accumulation in plants on Cd-contaminated soils are required. The study was conducted by using the coupled impact of microorganisms ( Trichoderma sp. and Bacillus sp.), biochar from rice husk, compost of rice straw, and perlite. The contaminated soil had 5.013 ppm of total Cd; vine spinach ( Basella alba L.) was grown to see how low-cost by-product addition affects the microbial activity and the plant Cd uptake, as well as how these additives improve Cd under Cd-stressed soil. In the case of the sole application of three by-products, the highest results of Cd uptake to vine spinach vegetable and Cd reduction from soil were 47.91% and 95.43%. A combination of microorganisms and by-product additives, especially biochar, could reduce soil Cd mobilized concentration, improve soil bacterial community variety and metabolic functions, and minimize Cd stress damage. In brief, the manuscript may help applications of low-cost amendments and microbial products ( Trichoderma sp. and Bacillus sp.) that could reduce soil-available Cd concentration, enhance soil microbial population variety and metabolism features, and minimize the harm caused by Cd stress.