Growth and Yield Responses of Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) to Increasing Levels of Soil Arsenic Contamination

Soil arsenic contamination threatens vegetable production in South Asia, yet the dose-dependent response of brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) to elevated soil arsenate [As(V)] remains insufficiently quantified. A pot experiment was conducted at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, using a Completely Randomized Design with four replications to evaluate the effects of sodium arsenate (T₁:0, T₂:25, T₃:50, and T₄:75 mg As kg⁻¹ soil) on S. melongena cv. BARI Brinjal 5. Arsenate exposure progressively inhibited vegetative growth, root development, biomass accumulation, and reproductive yield, with peak phytotoxicity observed at 75 mg As kg⁻¹ soil. Compared with the control, the 75 mg As kg⁻¹ treatment significantly reduced root length by 61.7%, root dry weight by 54.2%, plant height by 39.6%, leaf number by 29.2%, and stem diameter by 27.8%, alongside a 32.9% decline in shoot dry weight. Reproductive traits were similarly impaired, reducing individual fruit weight by 34.6% and total fruit yield per plant from ~1.4 kg to ~0.3 kg. These findings demonstrate that soil arsenate severely compromises brinjal productivity; thus, proper soil management and suitable cultivation practices need to be adopted for sustainable vegetable production in arsenic affected areas.

Keywords: Arsenate toxicity; Soil contamination; Vegetative growth; Root development; Fruit yield.