Abstract
Sewage sludge (SSL), historically regarded as an environmental challenge, is increasingly recognized as a nutrient-rich organic amendment with considerable potential for sustainable agricultural use. This study evaluated the combined effects of SSL and chemical fertilizers (CF) on the growth, physiological performance and biochemical characteristics of rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivated under a rice-wheat cropping system. The experiment, conducted over two consecutive cropping seasons, demonstrated that integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CF significantly improved plant height, tiller number, chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents, membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI). The most pronounced improvements were observed under the treatment comprising 30 t ha-1 SSL in combination with 100 % of the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF). Furthermore, stress-associated metabolites such as proline, phenolics and malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly lower under SSL-CF treatments, indicating reduced oxidative and abiotic stress and enhanced physiological resilience. These findings reveal that SSL not only supplies essential nutrients but also enhances physiological efficiency and stress tolerance in cereal crops. Nonetheless, the potential risks associated with heavy metal accumulation underscore the need for systemic monitoring and regulated application strategies. Collectively, the study provides robust evidence that the integration of SSL with CF improves soil fertility, maintains crop productivity and supports environmentally sound nutrient management for long-term agricultural sustainability in intensive cereal-based systems.
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The text the model read, with the source record’s inline markup (italics, sub- and superscripts) rendered and its character entities decoded; quote offsets refer to the raw text.
Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Integrated sewage sludge and chemical fertilizer management significantly improved plant height and tiller number in rice.
- Taxon
- rice
Oryza sativae0
- Treatment
- integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CFe1
- Outcome
- plant height, tiller numbere1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e1“integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CF significantly improved plant height, tiller number, chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents, membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)”
Claim · model-written summary
Integrated sewage sludge and chemical fertilizer management significantly improved chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents in rice.
- Taxon
- rice
Oryza sativae0
- Treatment
- integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CFe1
- Outcome
- chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contentse1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e1“integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CF significantly improved plant height, tiller number, chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents, membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)”
Claim · model-written summary
Integrated sewage sludge and chemical fertilizer management significantly improved membrane stability index and chlorophyll stability index in rice.
- Taxon
- rice
Oryza sativae0
- Treatment
- integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CFe1
- Outcome
- membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)e1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e1“integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CF significantly improved plant height, tiller number, chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents, membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)”
Claim · model-written summary
Integrated sewage sludge and chemical fertilizer management significantly improved plant height and tiller number in wheat.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Treatment
- integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CFe1
- Outcome
- plant height, tiller numbere1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e1“integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CF significantly improved plant height, tiller number, chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents, membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)”
Claim · model-written summary
Integrated sewage sludge and chemical fertilizer management significantly improved chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents in wheat.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Treatment
- integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CFe1
- Outcome
- chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contentse1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e1“integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CF significantly improved plant height, tiller number, chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents, membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)”
Claim · model-written summary
Integrated sewage sludge and chemical fertilizer management significantly improved membrane stability index and chlorophyll stability index in wheat.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Treatment
- integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CFe1
- Outcome
- membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)e1
- Direction
- improvede1
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e1“integrated nutrient management involving SSL and CF significantly improved plant height, tiller number, chlorophyll concentration, protein and starch contents, membrane stability index (MSI) and chlorophyll stability index (CSI)”
Claim · model-written summary
The most pronounced improvements in rice occurred under 30 t ha-1 SSL combined with 100 % of the recommended fertilizer dose.
- Taxon
- rice
Oryza sativae0
- Treatment
- 30 t ha-1 SSL in combination with 100 % of the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF)e2
- Outcome
- improvementse2
- Direction
- most pronouncede2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e2“The most pronounced improvements were observed under the treatment comprising 30 t ha-1 SSL in combination with 100 % of the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF)”
Claim · model-written summary
The most pronounced improvements in wheat occurred under 30 t ha-1 SSL combined with 100 % of the recommended fertilizer dose.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Treatment
- 30 t ha-1 SSL in combination with 100 % of the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF)e2
- Outcome
- improvementse2
- Direction
- most pronouncede2
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e2“The most pronounced improvements were observed under the treatment comprising 30 t ha-1 SSL in combination with 100 % of the recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF)”
Claim · model-written summary
Sewage sludge with chemical fertilizer treatments significantly lowered proline, phenolics and malondialdehyde in rice.
- Taxon
- rice
Oryza sativae0
- Treatment
- SSL-CF treatmentse3
- Outcome
- proline, phenolics and malondialdehyde (MDA)e3
- Direction
- lowere3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e3“stress-associated metabolites such as proline, phenolics and malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly lower under SSL-CF treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Sewage sludge with chemical fertilizer treatments significantly lowered proline, phenolics and malondialdehyde in wheat.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Treatment
- SSL-CF treatmentse3
- Outcome
- proline, phenolics and malondialdehyde (MDA)e3
- Direction
- lowere3
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.

Verbatim
e0“rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)”
e3“stress-associated metabolites such as proline, phenolics and malondialdehyde (MDA) were significantly lower under SSL-CF treatments”
Claim · model-written summary
Heavy metal accumulation risks call for systemic monitoring and regulated application of sewage sludge in cereal crops.
Verbatim
e4“the potential risks associated with heavy metal accumulation underscore the need for systemic monitoring and regulated application strategies”
e5“enhances physiological efficiency and stress tolerance in cereal crops”
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See all 327 papers →8 of 12 groups shown: named compounds and organisms first, then groups whose results differ (checked claim by claim), then those with positive and negative results, then the smaller groups.
Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.