Arsenic acquisition pattern in different plant parts of aromatic rice cultivars

Abstract

A field trial was conducted in Gontra village under Chakdaha block of Nadia district, West Bengal during rainy (kharif) season of 2020 to assess arsenic (As) accumulation in different plant parts of aromatic rice cultivars. The field trial was laid out in Randomized Block Design (RBD) with 15 treatments (aromatic rice cultivars) and three replications. Results revealed that the aromatic rice cultivar ‘Poreiton’ (collected from Manipur) showed maximum arsenic accumulation in grain (0.93 mg/kg) and husk (1.68 mg/kg); being statistically at par with cultivars ‘Wairi-Chakhao’ (0.87 and 1.55 mg/kg grain and husk, respectively) and ‘'Lalbadshabhog’ (0.74 and 1.52 mg/kg grain and husk, respectively). Least arsenic accumulation was found in the cultivar ‘Tulaipanji’ (0.17 and 0.71 mg/kg grain and husk, respectively). Hence, the cultivar ‘Tulaipanji’ grain was found to be safe for human consumption, as the grain As content within the safe limit as per WHO’s guideline (maximum 0.2 mg/kg of white rice). But other cultivars need some mitigation strategies with respect to water and nutrient management so that grain As content is kept within the safe limit.