Transportation of Chromium (VI) to Bombyx mori L. from mulberry Plant (Morus alba L.) grown at soil irrigated with Chromium (VI) containing effluents

The research was conducted to determine Chromium (VI) toxicity in population Bombyx mori. The synthetic wastewater used to irrigate soil to evaluate the impact of pH (4 to 8) at 100 mg/L and initial Chromium (VI) concentrations (25 mg/L to 300 mg/L) at 5 pH in its bioaccumulation in B. mori foodchain. By using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) analysis the amount of Chromium (VI) determined in soil, mulberry plants, B. mori larvae, silk glands and silkworm feces. The results showed that local cobalt pollution can be indicated by using B. mori as a template as its body length, body weight and the mortality rate were found to be strongly related to Chromium (VI) concentration. Higher the Chromium (VI) amount in mulberry leaves causes more toxicity to B. mori population. At 300 mg/L Cr (VI) concentration and pH 4 there was maximum deposition of Chromium (VI) in soil, mulberry plants, B. mori larvae, faeces and silk glands from the synthetic effluent. The maximum deposition was 123.5±0.03 mg/kg, 89.76±.031 mg/kg, 23.31±0.019 mg/kg, 41.32±0.069 mg/kg and 35.67±0.04 mg/kg observed respectively.

Development of a Model and Sensor Based Smart Irrigation System

Water availability is a critical variable for virtually every economic activity, including agriculture and industry, the energy sector and public use. Specifically, Farmers could waste thousands of cubic meters of water daily through Irrigation. This project developed a smart irrigation system capable of making autonomous decision of irrigating the soil with an appropriate amount of water required through monitoring of soil irrigation factors. The soil moisture level and the rainfall status were the soil irrigation factors considered. The threshold values of the irrigation factors required for soil to be irrigated were established. Subsequently, a system was developed to sense the soil irrigation factors and monitor when the threshold values are reached so that necessary information is communicated to switch on or off a water pump designed for irrigation purpose. The system is implemented with a PIC16f876A microcontroller. The results of performance evaluation conducted on the system revealed that the system is able to monitor and estimate the soil irrigation factors with good accuracy. Also, the system is able to start the water pump to irrigate soil and stop it as appropriate depending on whether the soil irrigation factors value indicates need for irrigation or not. Keywords: Irrigation; Autonomous; System; Microcontroller; Threshold.