Effect of water management, tillage options and phosphorus status on arsenic uptake in rice

High arsenic (As) concentrations in soil may lead to elevated concentrations of arsenic in agricultural products. Field experiments were conducted to examine the effects of water management (WM) and Phosphorus (P) rates on As uptake, rice growth, yield and yield attributes of winter (boro) and monsoon (aman) rice in an As contaminated soil-water at Gobindagonj, Gaibandha, Bangladesh in 2004 and 2005. Significantly, the highest average grain yields (6.88 +/- 0.07 t ha(-1) in boro 6.38 +/- 0.06 t ha(-1) in aman) were recorded in permanent raised bed (PRB; aerobic WM: Eh = +360 mV) plus 100% P amendment. There was a 12% yield increase over conventional till on flat (CTF; anaerobic WM: Eh = -56 mV) at the same P level. In boro, the As content in grain and As content in straw were about 3 and 6 times higher in CTF compared to PRB, respectively. The highest total As content (0.646 +/- 0.01 ppm in grain and 10.93 +/- 0.19 ppm in straw) was recorded under CTF, and the lowest total As content (0.247 +/- 0.01 and 1.554 +/- 0.09 ppm in grain and straw, respectively) was recorded under PRB (aerobic WM). The results suggest that grain and straw As are closely associated in boro rice. The furrow irrigation approach of the PRB treatments consistently reduced irrigation input by 29-31% for boro and 27-30% for aman rice relative to CTF treatments in 2004 and 2005, respectively, thus reducing the amount of As added to the soil from the As-contaminated irrigation water. Yearly, 30% less As was deposited to the soil compared to CTF system through irrigation water during boro season. High As concentrations in grain and straw in rice grown using CTF in the farmers' field, and the fact that using PRB reduced grain As concentrations to value less than half of the proposed food hygiene standard. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.