Water is considered a vital resource because it is necessary for all aspects of human and ecosystem survival. However, due to natural processes and anthropogenic activities, various pollutants have been added to the ground water system. Among these, heavy metals are some of the most serious pollutants. Cd, a toxic heavy metal used in Ni-Cd batteries, the colouration of plastic and various discarded electronic products released into the water system causes serious health issues. The chronic exposure to Cd produces a wide variety of acute and chronic effects in humans. Cd accumulates in the human body, especially in the kidneys, resulting in kidney damage (renal tubular damage), which is a critical health effect. Other effects of Cd exposure are disturbances in calcium metabolism, hypercalciuria and the formation of kidney stones. High exposure to Cd can lead to lung cancer and prostate cancer; hence, poor quality water that may result in Cd toxicity has become a global concern. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine the concentration of Cd in underground water sources in western U.P. regions. Water samples were acidified to 1% with nitric acid and then stored in double-capped polyethylene bottles for further analysis by an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. After comparing the data to the WHO (2011) permissible limit, the study revealed that the concentration of Cd was higher than the regulatory threshold; therefore, the underground water system is seriously affected by Cd toxicity.

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Implementation of sound fertilizer management in rice cultivation is essential in optimizing productivity and profitability. The use of controlled release fertilizer (CRF) to improve crop production in various cropping systems has been widely explored, with new approaches and materials continually being studied to produce new CRF. A field study was carried out to determine the efficiency of local CRFs on rice production and N uptake using MR220 CL1 rice variety. Ten different types of CRFs consisting of two groups namely biochar impregnated urea (

Globally, excess soil nutrient mining is a serious challenge to sustainable agricultural production. The task is more daunting in the semi-arid region of the globe. In addition to the primary nutrient deficiency over the mining of secondary nutrients, especially sulfur is an emerging challenge in contemporary crop production systems. Hence, there is a dire need to devise an appropriate sulfur management protocol by searching for efficient and sustainable sulfur sources. Therefore, the efficacy of new sulfur molecules was evaluated on the performance and nutrient acquisition potential of the pearl millet–mustard system at the research farm of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, India, for two years. The flexibility of urea–ES technology allows customized sulfur-enhanced urea formulations that suit unique crop needs, offering an all-in-one nitrogen and sulfur fertilizer solution. Hence, the study hypothesized that new sulfur molecules like sulfonated urea (SEU) will have a positive impact on crop growth, yield, and nutrient acquisition in the pearl millet–mustard system. The results revealed that the application of 50% sulfur (S) (15 kg/ha) as a base and 50% (15 kg/ha) as a topdressing (SEU 10-0-0-75) produced better growth, yield-contributing parameters, and economic productivity of the pearl millet–mustard system. However, both compositions of SEU (40-0-0-13 and 10-0-0-75) were significantly better than the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) and the RDF along with other S sources like single super phosphate and bentonite in enhancing crop growth and productivity. The agronomic efficiency of nitrogen (AEn) and S (Aes) of SEU (40-0-0-13 and 10-0-0-75) were 9.1 and 10.3 kg seed yield/kg N and 51.2 and 28.9 kg seed/kg, respectively. The agronomic nitrogen use efficiency of SEU (40-0-0-13) and SEU (10-0-0-75) is significantly higher than those of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK) alone. Thus, the findings inferred that splitting S (50% as a base and 50% as topdressing) through SEU is a practically feasible and economically robust S option for profitable and sustainable production of the pearl millet–mustard production model in the semi-arid region.