Crop adaptation to air pollution I. Effect of particulate and SO2 pollution on growth, yield attributes and sulphur nutrition of wheat, barley and chickpea.

Sulphur dioxide (SO) and particulate matter (PM) are one of the major air pollutants emerging out of the industrial development and human activities. Plants exhibit differential sensitivity to SO₂ pollution and its affect on plant growth can be both direct and/or indirect. The present study was conducted in controlled tunnels to assess the effect of particulate matter (PM) and SO₂ on growth attributes of two cereals (bread and durum wheat and barley) and a legume (chickpea) species. Relative sensitivity of crops to elevated SO₂ followed the following order: durum wheat < bread wheat < barley < chickpea. This study clearly shows that the presence of particulate matter in the growing environment severely inhibits crop growth while the SO₂ enriched environment promotes plant growth and S uptake across crops and that the tolerant crop species are capable of utilizing SO₂ towards the plant S pool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]