In the past 20-30 years, deterioration in soil quality has become a serious environmental issue. Rapid industrialization and mining activities have triggered the deterioration of soil quality. Owing to these anthropogenic activities, soil is exposed to contaminants, such as heavy metals (HMs) (Xiao et al., Land Degradation & Development 31:1969-1989, 2020; Raj and Maiti, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 191:566, 2019), which, in turn, result in the degradation of soil quality as well as soil fertility.