4 Discussion
To our knowledge, this is the first report which investigated
the effect of different planting schemes on the
removal of endosulfan sulfate from soil. Planting of
sweet corn, cowpea, and cucumber either alone or in
combination was effective at removing endosulfan sulfate
from contaminated soil to a greater extent compared
to the unplanted control. Based on the results, sweet
corn is a suitable candidate for phytoremediation of soils
contaminated with endosulfan sulfate. First, endosulfan
sulfate was removed to a large extent in the rhizospheric
and bulk soil of sweet corn cultivated alone. Second,
growth of sweet corn in the presence of another plant
was normal. The shoot and root of sweet corn grew
relativelywell when the plant was grown with cucumber
and cowpea. Cowpea also tolerated endosulfan sulfate
well based on shoot and root characteristics, but it was
less efficient at removing endosulfan sulfate from soils
than sweet corn when it was cultivated either alone or
together with another plants.
The presence of plants significantly enhanced endosulfan
sulfate removal from soils compared to unplanted
control. Cultivation of sweet corn alone in spiked soil
was the most effective treatment in removing