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Impact of Water Regimes on Minimizing the Accumulation of Arsenic in Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

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Abstract

Arsenic (As) is very common pollutant of the environment categorized as class-I human carcinogen. Rice crop is inherently efficient at accumulating As that is also triggered by conventional cropping methods (flooded conditions). A pot experiment was conducted with the objectives to (i) determine the accumulation of As in rice grains and shoots and As species in rice grains, (ii) determine the effect of As concentrations on physiological and agronomic characteristics of the rice crop, and (iii) assess the changes in fractions of As within the soil under different water regimes. Water regimes included flooding, intermittent, intermittent + aerobic, and aerobic irrigation. Grain As concentration from flood-irrigated rice was significantly (P ≤ 0.05) reduced in rice grown in 10 and 50 mg kg−1 As-contaminated soil with less applied irrigation. Water management techniques have influenced As speciation in rice grains. As the irrigation techniques were shifted from flooding to intermittent, intermittent + aerobic, and aerobic irrigation, a significant decrease in concentration of inorganic species (11.98–76.81% at 10 mg kg−1 and 66.04–93.61% at 50 mg kg−1) was observed. Aerobic irrigation has effectively reduced the concentration of arsenic in rice grain as compared to other irrigation techniques in both the As-contaminated soils. This study indicated that irrigation management techniques other than flood irrigation have significantly affected the As (total and speciation) concentration within the rice grains and non-significantly affecting crop yield and this must be considered if regulations are based on inorganic As percentage of total As concentration.

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Acknowledgements

We, the authors, are very thankful to the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Islamabad, for providing funds to conduct this research in Pakistan under the HEC-5000 Indigenous Program and to perform analytical work at Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, University of Newcastle, Australia, under its International Research Support Initiative Program (IRSIP).

Funding

Higher Education Commision,Pakistan,417-55070-2AG4-001,Muhammad Tahir Shehzad,IRSIP 38 Agri 14,Muhammad Tahir Shehzad

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faisalabad, 38040, Pakistan

    Muhammad Tahir Shehzad, Muhammad Sabir &  Saifullah

  2. Global Centre for Environmental Remediation (GCER), College of Engineering, Science and Environment, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Abu Bakkar Siddique, Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman & Ravi Naidu

  3. Cooperative Research Centre for Contamination Assessment and Remediation of the Environment (CRC-CARE), The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, 2308, Australia

    Abu Bakkar Siddique, Mohammad Mahmudur Rahman & Ravi Naidu

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  1. Muhammad Tahir Shehzad
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Contributions

Dr. M. T. Shehzad, has collected, prepared, and analyzed the samples and performed statistical data analysis and written a manuscript. Dr. M. Sabir has supervised the whole research. Dr. Saifullah, Mr. A. B. Siddique, and Dr. M. M. Rahman have helped in writing and critically reviewing the manuscript. Samples were analyzed at Global Centre for Environmental Remediation, University of Newcastle, Australia, under the supervision of Prof. Ravi Naidu.

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Correspondence to Muhammad Tahir Shehzad or Muhammad Sabir.

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Highlights

• Arsenic (As), class-A human carcinogen, is ubiquitously present in the environment.

• Rice crops are inherently efficient at accumulating As triggered by continuous flooding.

• Aerobic irrigation effectively reduces the concentration of arsenic in rice grains.

• Arsenic levels were determined using an inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometer.

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Shehzad, M.T., Sabir, M., Saifullah et al. Impact of Water Regimes on Minimizing the Accumulation of Arsenic in Rice (Oryza sativa L.). Water Air Soil Pollut 233, 383 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-022-05856-7

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