Evaluation of toxic conditions associated with oranging symptoms of rice in a flooded Oxisol in Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

The toxic conditions of Oxisol soils attributed to oranging symptoms of rice grown in the Sitiung Transmigration area, Sumatra, Indonesia were evaluated in the laboratory. Changes of pH and Eh of flooded soils, and concentrations of nutrients in the soils and in the rice plants were measured. The soils were clayey, kaolinitic, isohyperthermic, Typic Haplorthox. It was found that Eh of the soils sharply decreased from an average value of +460 ± 150 mV to −217 ± 15 mV following 60 days of flooding (DF). During the same period of flooding, soil pH increased from an average value of 5.2 ± 0.6 to 6.6 ± 0.2. Concentrations of NaOAc extractable Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, Ca, Mg, P, and K, but not Al, increased markedly whereas their water-soluble form, except Fe, decreased slightly following 60 DF. Leaf tissue analyses indicated that 13, 51 and 58% of the rice plant samples contained potentially toxic level of Mn, Fe and Al, respectively, as their contents were higher than the assumed threshold toxicity levels of 2500, 300, and 300 mg kg⁻¹. Thirteen, 16, 2, and 3% of the leaf tissue also contained potentially deficient levels of P, K, Ca, and Mg, respectively. The oranging symptom in the rice leaf tissue appeared to be due to indirect toxicity of Fe, Mn, and Al, i.e., Fe-induced, Mn-induced, and Al-induced deficiency of P, K, Ca and Mg. As a result of the relatively high concentrations of NaOAc extractable Fe, Mn, and Al in the soil solution, root growth was limited and coated with iron and manganese oxides thereby reducing the root's capacity to absorb nutrients from the soils.