Effect of enriched vermicompost with iron slag on corn Fe availability in a cadmium polluted

This research was performed to investigate the effect of iron slag enriched vermicompost on the changes in Fe availability in a Cd polluted soil. Treatments were consisting of applying enriched vermicompost (0, 15 and 30 Mg ha-1) with 0 and 5% pure Fe from iron slag of Mobarakeh Steel Complex in a polluted soil (0, 5, 10 and 15 mg Cd kg-1 soil) and plant in this experiment was corn (Zea mays L. single grass 704). Increasing the loading rate of vermicompost from 0 to 15 and 30 Mg ha-1 in a Cd polluted soil (10 mg Cd soil-1) caused an increasing in DTPA extractable-Fe by 13 and 22 times, respectively. Similar to this result, after 60th from the experiment, the root and shoot Fe concentration was also increased by 4.17 and 14.4 times, respectively. The result of this study showed that applying vermicompost enriched with 5% Fe pure can probably affect soil physical and chemical properties such as pH and CEC that increase soil and plant Fe availability. However, the role of applying vermicompost on decreasing soil and plant Cd availability and thereby, increasing corn Fe availability cannot be ignored.