Heavy metal pollution and net greenhouse gas emissions in a rice-wheat rotation system as influenced by partial organic substitution

Substituting nitrogen fertilizer with organic manure is a common fertilization practice in farmland, but its potential effect on heavy metal pollution and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains unclear. A three-year field experiment was conducted in the rice-wheat rotation system, with two different substitution ratios (25% and 50%) of sewage sludge compost (SS) and pig manure compost (PM). With the substitutions of SS and PM, the heavy metals, including Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb were accumulated in the soil, but the pollution load index was < 1 (0.39-0.66), indicating that soil was not polluted. Heavy metals Ni and Cu were mainly found in rice chaff, while Zn and Cd were accumulated in rice stalk, and the accumulation of Pb occurred in the leaf. For wheat, Ni, Cu, and Pb were accumulated in chaff, while grain and stalk had the highest concentrations of Zn and Cd, respectively. Moreover, the bioconcentration factor of heavy metals was 0-0.787, and their contents were below the standard limits for foods for rice and wheat in China, implying that the grains were unpolluted. Given the 5-8 fold increase in the sequestration rate of soil organic carbon with SS and PM substitutions, the annual net GHG emissions were reduced by 115-166%. Most importantly, 50% SS substitution exhibited the lowest net GHG emissions and highest rice and wheat yields. Overall, the results suggested that 50% SS substitution would be a feasible fertilization strategy that not only is unlikely to pose a high risk of soil and grain pollution but also significantly mitigates net GHG emissions and maintains high yields.

Automated summary

Substituting nitrogen fertilizer with organic manure is a common practice in farmland, and this study found that a 50% substitution of sewage sludge compost showed the best results, reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining high yields.