Two-year and multi-site field trials to evaluate soil amendments for controlling cadmium accumulation in rice grain


Date

2021-11-15

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

Citations

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Data

Abstract

Representing the staple crop for half of the world population, rice can accumulate high levels of cadmium (Cd) in its grain, posing concerns on food safety. Different soil amendments have been proposed to decrease Cd accumulation in rice grain by either decreasing soil Cd availability, introducing competitive ions on Cd uptake, or down-regulating the expression of transporters for Cd uptake. However, the effectiveness of soil amendments applied alone or in combinations needs to be tested under field conditions. Here, we present results of field trials with two rice cultivars differing in Cd accumulation grown at three field sites in southern China in two years, to investigate the effects of two Mn-containing soil amendments (MnO2, Mn-loaded biochar (MB)), Si fertilizer (Si), limestone, and K2SO4, as well as interactions among MnO2, Si, and limestone on decreasing Cd accumulation in rice grain. We found that single applications of MnO2 or MB to acidic soils low in Mn decreased grain Cd concentrations by 44–53 % or 78–82 %, respectively, over two years without decrease in performance. These effects were comparable to or greater than those induced by limestone liming alone (45–62 %). Strong interactions between MnO2 and limestone resulting from their influence on soil extractable Cd and Mn led to non-additive effects on lowering grain Cd. MB addition minimized grain Cd concentrations, primarily by increasing extractable and dissolved Mn concentrations, but also by decreasing Cd extractability in soil. In comparison, Si and K2SO4 amendments affected grain Cd levels only weakly. We conclude that the amendments that decrease labile Cd and increase labile Mn in soils are most effective at reducing Cd accumulation in rice grain, thus contributing to food safety.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Volume

289

Pages / Article No.

117918

Publisher

Elsevier

Event

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

Manganese; Liming; Biochar; Competition; Phytoavailability; Rice; Cadmium

Organisational unit

03541 - Kretzschmar, Ruben / Kretzschmar, Ruben check_circle

Notes

Funding

170120 - Reducing Cd and As uptake by rice in contaminated paddy soils: From biogeochemical processes to improved paddy management (SNF)

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