Effects of Heavy Metals on Plant Productivity: Source Identification and Mitigation Strategies with a Bibliometric Perspective

Archana Kashyap

Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India.

Bishnu Prasad Sahoo *

Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India.

Parul Bhatt Kotiyal

Forest Ecology and Climate Change Division, Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India.

Suvarna Sahoo

Department of Chemistry, Utkal University, Odisha-751004, India.

Manish Singh

Centre for Environmental Assessment and Climate Change, G. B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment, Almora, India.

Jogendra Singh

Research and Development Division, Society for Agro Environmental Sustainability, Dehradun-248007, India.

Deepak Mohanta

Forest Entomology Discipline, Forest Protection Division, ICFRE- Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India.

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.


Abstract

On a worldwide scale, plant life, human health, and food security are under serious threats due to contamination of productive agricultural land by trace metals. Attributed from both anthropogenic as well as natural causes, heavy metals can spread through the environment in innumerable ways. Mining, abandoned mining sites, fertilizer and pesticide use, and sewage irrigation are examples of human-related factors; natural causes, in general, can include any process involving wind erosion and migration, as well as the mechanical redistribution of soil debris can affect crop health and yield when they reach dangerous concentrations. Physicochemical properties of soil and crop species, favorable or non- favorable conditions of growth of plants, toxicity of elemental composition of plants, developmental stages of crop plants, and the content of HM in soil solution are some of those factors that influence the harmfulness of HM to plant productivity. Excessive and continuous application of manure were found to have an impact on increasing the entire level of heavy metals such as CD, Zn, Cr, and Cu in soil but not Pb, Ni, and as in soil. The decomposition of organic matter, nutrient cycling & plant growth support are all made possible by these soil microbes. Heavy metals origin in soil by various researchers have also been mentioned in this review along with how they affect microbial diversity and abundance, enzyme activity, and functional activities. Further, adaptation and resistance mechanisms of microbes are reviewed. Methods for limiting heavy metal accumulation into crops, restoring contaminated land, and ensuring sustainable agricultural productivity are revisited in this review.

Keywords: Metals, metalloids, integrated nutrient management, biochar, soil pollution, toxicity mitigation


How to Cite

Kashyap, Archana, Bishnu Prasad Sahoo, Parul Bhatt Kotiyal, Suvarna Sahoo, Manish Singh, Jogendra Singh, and Deepak Mohanta. 2026. “Effects of Heavy Metals on Plant Productivity: Source Identification and Mitigation Strategies With a Bibliometric Perspective”. Asian Journal of Environment & Ecology 25 (2):98-124. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajee/2026/v25i2885.

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