Microwave Soil Treatment along with Biochar Application Alleviates Arsenic Phytotoxicity and Reduces Rice Grain Arsenic Concentration

Mohammad Humayun Kabir, Graham Brodie, Dorin Gupta and Alexis Pang
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Mohammad Humayun Kabir: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Dookie 3647, Australia
Graham Brodie: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Dookie 3647, Australia
Dorin Gupta: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Dookie 3647, Australia
Alexis Pang: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Dookie 3647, Australia

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-20

Abstract: Rice grain arsenic (As) is a major pathway of human dietary As exposure. This study was conducted to reduce rice grain As concentration through microwave (MW) and biochar soil treatment. Collected soils were spiked to five levels of As concentration (As-0, As-20, As-40, As-60, and As-80 mg kg −1 ) prior to applying three levels of biochar (BC-0, BC-10, and BC-20 t ha −1 ) and three levels of MW treatment (MW-0, MW-3, and MW-6 min). The results revealed that MW soil treatment alleviates As phytotoxicity as rice plant growth and grain yield increase significantly and facilitate less grain As concentration compared with the control. For instance, the highest grain As concentration (912.90 µg kg −1 ) was recorded in the control while it was significantly lower (442.40 µg kg −1 ) in the MW-6 treatment at As-80. Although the BC-10 treatment had some positive effects, unexpectedly, BC-20 had a negative effect on plant growth, grain yield, and grain As concentration. The combination of BC-10 and MW-6 treatment was found to reduce grain As concentration (498.00 µg kg −1 ) compared with the control (913.7 µg kg −1 ). Thus, either MW-6 soil treatment alone or in combination with the BC-10 treatment can be used to reduce dietary As exposure through rice consumption. Nevertheless, further study is needed to explore the effectiveness and economic feasibility of this novel technique in field conditions.

Keywords: microwave; soil heating; biochar; arsenic phytotoxicity alleviation; rice grain arsenic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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