Cadmium in Rice Is Affected by Fertilizer-Borne Chloride and Sulfate Anions: Long-Term Field Versus Pot Experiments

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Abstract
In order to investigate the effects of Cl− and SO42− based fertilizers on the accumulation of cadmium (Cd) in rice plants, a long-term experiment, which has been conducted since 1975, and a short-term pot experiment were designed. The results of the long-term experiment showed that the highest total grain Cd was found in the treatment of fertilizers with rich Cl−, which was 72.7% higher compared to conventional fertilization (CF). However, there was no significant difference between the CF and fertilization with rich SO42− treatments. This phenomenon can be explained by the concentrations of the EDTA extractable Cd being significantly increased by 60% under Cl− treatment, while SO42− treatment showed no significant effect. In the short-term trial, compared to CF, Cd concentrations in the roots increased by 1.07 and 0.93 times in the Cl− and SO42− treated soils, respectively, under Cd1.2 exposure. Meanwhile, Cd concentrations in the shoots enhanced by 96% in Cl− treated soil but decreased by 34.6% in SO42− treated soil. It was therefore concluded that fertilizer-borne Cl− significantly increased the Cd concentration in rice grains in the long-term experiment, but fertilizer-borne SO42− had no significant effect on the Cd concentration in rice grains. However, in the pot experiment, SO42− based fertilizers decreased Cd transport to the shoots of a rice plant grown in a Cd contaminated soil. These findings will improve the rational fertilization of Cd contaminated soils and the production of safer rice.
Funding Information
  • National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFD0800406, 0159/2019/A3)
  • Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR (2016YFD0800406, 0159/2019/A3)

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