%0 Journal Article
%T A Mitigation Approach to Alleviate Arsenic Accumulation in Rice through Balanced Fertilization
%A S. M. Imamul Huq
%A Selina Sultana
%A Ganga Chakraborty
%A M. T. A. Chowdhury
%J Applied and Environmental Soil Science
%D 2011
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2011/835627
%X Pot experiments with boro and aman season rice on the same soils treated with arsenic contaminated irrigation water and using balanced fertilizer or not revealed that balance fertilization could be a strategy to mitigate arsenic accumulation in rice grain. The study also revealed that there is a carryover effect of As applied through irrigation in the boro season to the subsequent aman season rice. This carryover effect too, could be minimized with balanced fertilization. 1. Introduction Groundwater contamination by As in Bangladesh has been termed as one of the worst calamities of the history [1]. The majority of the extracted groundwater (~85%) is used for irrigation [2]. About 40 percent of the net cultivable area of the country is under irrigation and the major recipient (60%) of the irrigation water is the boro rice (dry season rice) along with wheat and some other vegetable crops [3]. Irrigation with arsenic-contaminated groundwater is leading to elevated levels of arsenic in paddy soils [4], which may lead to increased concentrations of arsenic in rice [5¨C10], wheat [7, 8], vegetables [7, 8], and other agricultural products [11]. According to Imamul Huq et al. [8], the total arsenic loading in irrigated soils for a boro rice requiring 1000£¿mm of irrigation water per season ranges from 1.36 to 5.5£¿kg/ha/yr. Arsenic thus accumulated in the topsoil becomes available to the next crop of rice cultivated during the aman (wet) season, even if the crop is cultivated with arsenic free irrigation water or with rainwater [10, 12]. The carryover effects of irrigation on the subsequent accumulation of arsenic by different varieties of rice in arsenic affected areas, and its mitigation possibilities need to be properly addressed. A number of mitigation approaches have been tried to control arsenic accumulation in plants [1, 13¨C15]. Use of balanced fertilizers in soil could be an approach to alleviate the accumulation of As in different varieties of rice plants. Balanced fertilization is the key to efficient fertilizer use for sustainable high yields. Field crops receiving arsenic through irrigation water might show yield differences and accumulation of the toxic element that could be avoided by proper nutrient balance in the growth medium. The present study aims at finding the effect of balanced fertilization in the possible mitigation of arsenic accumulation in different varieties of rice in the boro season and the carryover effect of As in the aman season. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1. Sampling Site Soil samples were collected from a farmer¡¯s field in
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/aess/2011/835627/