The Impact of Organic and Conventional Farming Methods on Soil Physicochemical Composition and Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals and Arsenic on Pearl Millet (Pennisetumglaucum) Grown in Kaura Namoda, Zamfara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The impact of organic and conventional farming practices at four planting fields was carried out to determine the effect on physicochemical properties and heavy metal accumulation on Pearl millet. Pearl millet is used for processing of food products such as tuwo, fura, and kunun- zaki, Cuscus, burabusko, thin and thick porridges, alcoholic, non-alcoholic beverages and some winning foods. Food processors and consumers need to understand what they consume when they adopt any farming system for the production of this important crop. This study was carried out between the month of June and September, 2024 (15weeks). Sasakawa planting method was applied in planting the millet seeds and application of organic and inorganic fertilizers. Results obtained were statistically determined using Minitab software in order to arrive at level of significant difference among the parameters. The outcome of the result of physical parameters showed that conventional farming system produced less leaf size in terms of, width (1.3 to 2.25 cm), length (25.00 to 39.60cm), stalk length (49.00 to 77.00cm) and seed weight (10.50 to12.22g) compared to those of organic farming system. The result of proximate analysis showed that there was significant variation on ash, protein and carbohydrate content of conventional farming seeds (P ≤ 0.05) when compared with organic farming. Heavy metals analysis in pearl millet seeds indicate that the use of synthetic fertilizer did not lead to seed contamination with heavy metals, phosphorus, nitrogen and iron containing compounds. The outcome of this study shows that the type of farming system did not significantly (p ≤ 0.05) affects the quality and safety of the agricultural soil and plant seeds during practices. Farmers can leverage on this data to improve on conventional and organic system for better production of pearl millet to improve food security.