Accumulation of Heavy Metals in Maga-Pouss Rice Fields (Far-North Region, Cameroon) and Transfer to Rice Grains

Monitoring of heavy metals contamination of agricultural products and their transfer and bioaccumulation in crops like rice has become a hot topic worldwide over the last two decades. The present study was carried out to determine the accumulation of heavy metals in rice fields and their transfer to rice grains. Soil, irrigation water and rice grains samples were gathered in Maga-Pouss, Far-North, Cameroon. Concentrations of six heavy metals (lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, iron and mercury) were evaluated by Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS). Mercury was not detected in this study. Average concentrations of metals were in this order (in mg/kg): Fe (188.60 ± 97.06) > Pb (63.63 ± 7.11) > Cd (2.59 ± 0.29) > Zn (1.10 ± 1.05) > Cu (0.80 ± 0.73) in water and Pb (105.50 ± 31.11) > Fe (105.50 ± 31.11) > Cu (45.93 ± 14.39) > Zn (22.52 ± 6.40) > Cd (3.15 ± 0.49) in soil. Water in Maga-Pouss rice fields appears to be more harmful than the soil, notably for lead, cadmium and copper. In rice grains, heavy metals were found in this order (mg/kg): Fe (188.01 ± 82.62) > Cu (27.20 ± 0.00) > Zn (23.61 ± 12.42) > Pb (19.50 ± 19.91) > Cd (2.02 ± 1.05). The mean bioconcentration factor (BCF) of metals from soil to rice grains was in the following order: Fe (2.60) > Zn (1.05) > Cd (0.64) > Cu (0.59) > Pb (0.18). From water to rice grains, the order is: Cu (37.26) > Zn (22.49) > Cd (6.97) > Pb (2.74) > Fe (1.94). Rice field pH and electrical conductivity favored the uptake of lead, copper and cadmium by rice grains. The findings of this study will be good documentation for risk assessment, and decision-making by environmental managers in this region.

Research on Greenhouse Gases Emission in Rice Fields at County Level

[ Objective] The study aimed to analyze greenhouse gases emission in rice fields at county level. [ Method] Based on GIS platform of soil system and greenhouse gas emission model, CH4 and N20 emission in rice fields of Chaohu City during 1990 -2009 were studied by using rice yield, fertilizer, climate and other data. [ Result] From 1990 to 2009, annual emission of CH4 emission in rice fields of Chaohu City varied from 6.47 to 11.67 Gg, and rice area, yield and the rate of straw returning to fields were the main factors influencing CH4 emission. For instance, when the rate of straw returning to fields rose to 30% and 45% respectively, CH4 emission increased by 14.4% and 27.4% separately. Annual emission of N20 in rice fields of Chaohu City from 1990 to 2009 was 0.119 -0.217 Gg. N20 emission rose slowly during 1990 -1998, then it enhanced fast and greatly as the rapid increase of chemical fertilizer and manure in their application after 1998; it reached the maximum value in 2000, then showed a decreasing trend after 2000. Thus, controlling nitrogen input and improving the utilization rate of nitrogenous fertilizer were the fundamental ways to decrease N20 emission in rice fields. [ Conclusion] The research could provide scientific references for the establishment of measures to reduce greenhouse gases emission in rice fields.

Notable effects on comprehensive techniques of man-made biosphere in rice fields

Studied by Mr. LIU Zhongzhu, ex Chairman of Fujian Academy of Agri Sciences, a combined technique of man—made biosphere in rice fields deserves notice. The research indicated that using man—made biosphere in rice fields can enrich soil, reduce the infects of diseases, insects and weeds, economize the use of pesticide and herbicide, decrease green house effect, and improve atmosphere. As tested, the yield for rice is usually 10500—12000 kg/ha, for fish is usually 2250—3250 kg/ha. Again, about 50%—60% fertilizer and 30%—50% pesticide can be saved. The net income increased $ 1,080—1,800 per ha.

The Program of Fish Culture in rice fields has been developed in Zhejiang Province

1996 is the first year for realizing the object of fish culture in 66,600 ha of rice field in Zhejiang Province. The provincial government has appropriated $ 24,000 per ha for starting capital. Starting from this year, counties with the tradition of fish culture in rice fields as Youngjia and Qingtian have put stress on popularizing the new technique of fish culture in ditches and puddles to raise the yield for per unit area. In areas of Central Zhejiang and North Zhejiang with hilly land and plain area with double—season rice, people have changed traditional fish varieties into special and excellent fish varieties.

Model for Methane Emission from Rice Fields and Its Application in Southern China

A process model has been developed. The model has been used to calculate the methane emission from rice fields. The influence of climate conditions, field water management, organic fertilizers and soil types on methane emission from rice fields are considered. There are three major segments which are highly interactive in nature in the model:rice growth, decomposition of soil organic matter and methane production, transport efficiency and methane emission rate. Explicit equations for modeling each segment mentioned above are given. The main results of the model are: 1. The seasonal variation of methane emission of the model output agrees with that of field experiments. The deviation of seasonal average methane emission rate between modeled value and experimental data is about 10%. 2. In the whole rice growing period, model output is similar to experimental data in the seasonal variation of transport ability of rice plant. 3. Soil organic matter content and soil physics and chemistry are major factors that determine the total season average emission rate, while soil temperature controls the temporal variation of methane emission from rice fields.

Chemical Weeding in Dry Direct Seeding Fields of Single Cropping Middlelate Rice

Chemical weeding in dry direct seeding fields of single cropping middle-late rice was studied in Huida vegetable farm of Huizhou City in 2012. The main treatment was herbicide（ pretilachlor ＋ bensulfuron-methyl,Yangguo and butachlor）,and the sub-treatment was application method（ soil treatments,seedling treatment and integrated treatment）. The results showed that 80 g pretilachlor ＋ bensulfuron-methyl（ 36% pretilachlor ＋ 4% bensulfuron-methyl） diluted with 50 kg water could be sprayed or 200 g Yangguo（ 23. 9% butachlor ＋ 1. 1% bensulfuron-methyl） mixed with 15 kg sandy soil could be broadcasted per 667 m2 on the sowing day or the second day under moist condition of soil,which could effectively control weeds in dry direct seeding fields of single cropping middle-late rice.

Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Three Paddy Rice Based Cultivation Systems in Southwest China

To understand methane （CH4） and nitrous oxide （N2O） emissions from permanently flooded rice paddy fields and to develop mitigation options, a field experiment was conducted in situ for two years （from late 2002 to early 2005） in three rice-based cultivation systems, which are a permanently flooded rice field cultivated with a single time and followed by a non-rice season （PF）, a rice-wheat rotation system （RW） and a rice-rapeseed rotation system （RR） in a hilly area in Southwest China. The results showed that the total CH4 emissions from PF were 646.3±52.1 and 215.0±45.4 kg CH4 hm^-2 during the rice-growing period and non-rice period, respectively. Both values were much lower than many previous reports from similar regions in Southwest China. The CH4 emissions in the rice-growing season were more intensive in PF, as compared to RW and RR. Only 33% of the total annual CH4 emission in PF occurred in the non-rice season, though the duration of this season is two times longer than the rice season. The annual mean N2O flux in PF was 4.5±0.6 kg N2O hm^-2 yr^-1. The N2O emission in the rice-growing season was also more intensive than in the non-rice season, with only 16% of the total annual emission occurring in the non-rice season. The amounts of N2O emission in PF were ignorable compared to the CH4 emission in terms of the global warming potential （GWP）. Changing PF to RW or RR not only eliminated CH4 emissions in the non-rice season, but also substantially reduced the CH4 emission during the following rice-growing period （ca. 58%, P〈0.05）. However, this change in cultivation system substantially increased N2O emissions, especially in the non-rice season, by a factor of 3.7 to 4.5. On the 100-year horizon, the integrated GWP of total annual CH4 and N2O emissions satisfies PF〉〉RR≈RW. The GWP of PF is higher than that of RW and RR by a factor of 2.6 and 2.7, respectively. Of the total GWP of CH4 and N2O emissions, CH4 emission contributed to 93%, 65% and 59% in PF, RW and RR, respectively. These results suggest that changing PF to RW and RR can substantially reduce not only CH4 emission but also the total GWP of the CH4 and N2O emissions.

Fate of Nitrogen from Organic and Inorganic Sources in Rice-Wheat Rotation Cropping System

The lower availability of N is one of the most important limiting factors impeding crop yield enhancement among the various factors that affect crop yield under the multiple-cropping agroecosystem in China.In this study,the recovery of a single application of 15N-labeled fertilizer or residues in rice-wheat cropping system was determined,in order to provide theoretical foundation for the nitrogen management in sustainable agricultural production.A continuous trace experiment was conducted for 15N microplots by using randomized block design with four treatments and four replications（T1 = 15N-labeled fertilizer with crop residue incorporation,T2 = 15N-labeled residues,T3 = 14N fertilizer to generate unlabeled crop residue,and T4 = 15Nlabeled fertilizer without crop residue incorporation）.Our results showed that,on average,17.17 and 12.01% of crop N was derived from N fertilizer and 15N-labeled residues,respectively during the first growing season,suggesting that approximately 82.83 or 87.99% of crop N was derived directly from soil N pool.There was a larger difference in the 15N recovery pattern in crop when N was applied as fertilizer or residues,i.e.,most of crop N derived from N fertilizer was absorbed in the first growing season（92.04%）,and the relevant value was 38.03% when 15N-labeled residues were applied.This implied that most of N fertilizer was recovered in the present cropping season,while a longer residue effect will be found for 15N-labeled residues.Thus,the average recovery of N fertilizer and N residue in the soil after the first growing season was 33.46 and 85.64%,respectively.The recovery of applied N in soil when N was applied as residues was significantly higher than that when N was applied as fertilizer.There was a larger difference in the total 15N recovery in plant and soil when N was applied as fertilizer or residues.By the end of the fifth or sixth cropping season,the total 15N recovery in plant and soil when N was applied as fertilizer or residues were estimated at 64.38 and 79.11%,respectively.On the contrary,there was little difference between the practices of residue incorporation and residue removal following the N fertilizer application.N fertilizer appeared to be more readily available to crops than residue-N,and residue-N replenished soil N pool,especially N in soil organic matter,much more than N fertilizer after six growing seasons.Therefore,residue-N is a better source for sustaining N content of soil organic matter.Thus,one possible management practice is to use both organic and inorganic N sources simultaneously to improve the use efficiency of N while protecting the sustainability of soil.

Methane emission in a rice field of Thailand

In this study, emission of methane have been measured in a Thai rice field. Clear patterns of diurnal variations of methane emission have been observed and were found to follow the diurnal variation of the soil temperature. A detailed explanation was given for explaining the occurrence of a methane emission peak at night.The effects of urea fertilization and field draining on methane emissions were discussed. Methane emission from Thai rice fields is estimated to be 3. 32 Tg CH_4(2. 49 Tg CH_4-C) each year , contributing about 3. 4% to global methane budget due to rice cultivation.

Effect of gradient magnetic field on physiochemistry functions of rice seedlings

Rice varieties Handao 2,Zhongbai 4,Han-jingzi,and Akihikari were treated with gradi-ent magnetic fileld to study the effect of gradi-ent field on rice.The magnetic field was madeup of 12 plots magnetic plates arranged in eachother south and north pole.The magneticstrength was 0-40 mT.Each four varieties wasput under the magnetic plate 15 cm away,andwent through the magnetic field with the speedof 20 cm/s.The same varieties without thetreatment were used as CK.Both of the seedswere soaked in water for 48 h in room temper-ature,and then sprouted on the porcelain platewith absorbed water paper.When the

Characteristics of Soil Fertility of Buried Ancient Paddy at Chuodun Site in Yangtze River Delta, China

Field investigation and laboratory analysis of 22 ancient paddy soils excavated at Chuodun site, Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, China were carried out in 2003 to （1） understand the basic characteristics of ancient paddy soils, （2） compare the difference of soil fertility between ancient paddy soils and recent paddy soils, and （3） inquire into mechanisms of the sustainability of paddy soil. The oldest paddy soils at Chuodun site can be dated back to Neolithic age, around 6000 aBP. These ancient fields were buried in about 1-m deep from the soil surface and their areas ranged from 0.32 to 12.9 m^2 with an average of 5.2 m^2. The paddy soils with 〉 5 000 pellets phytolith g^-1 soil were termed intensively cultivated paddy soils （ICPS） and those with 〈5000 pellets phytolith g^-1 soil were called weakly cultivated soils （WCPS）. The contents of organic carbon （OC）, and total N in the former were significantly higher than that in the latter. Ancient paddy soils had higher soil pH and C/N, total and available P, and lower contents of OC, DOC, total N, S, Cu, Fe, and available K, S, Fe, Mn, and Cu compared with recent paddy soils, which were attributed to application of chemical and manure fertilizers, pollution and acidification in recent paddy soils. The variation coefficients of OC and other nutrients in ancient paddy soils with higher PI were greater than that in ancient paddy soils with low PI, which indicated that human activities had a great impact on the spatial variability of soil nutrients. The contents of OC, total N, P and S in ancient paddy soils were higher than that in ancient moss of the same age, which indicated that planting rice during Majiabang culture period was beneficial to the accumulation of those life elements.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF METHANE EMISSIONS FROM RICE PADDY FIELDS IN THE YANGTZE DELTA OF CHINA

A numerical simulation model is presented in this paper,which comprises the processes of crop growth,soil organic carbon decomposition,and methane emissions in agroecosystems. Simulation results show that the model can simulate the main process of methane emissions well, and the correlation coefficient between the simulated values and observed data is 0.79 with 239 samples,which passed a significance test of 0.01.The average error of methane emission simulation in whole growth period is about 15%.Numerical analysis of the model indicates that the average temperature during rice growth period has much impacts on methane emissions,and the basic trend of interannual methane emissions is similar to that of average temperature.The amount of methane emissions reduces about 34.93%,when the fertilizer is used instead of manure in single rice paddy.

Hematology of Wild Caught Hoplobatrachus rugulosus in Northern Thailand

The rice field frog Hoplobatrachus rugulosus is an important anuran species found in wetlands throughout Thailand. At present, the hematological parameters of wild populations are unknown. Therefore, hematological and morphological characteristics of peripheral blood cells of wild-caught H. rugulosus were examined. Thirty-three adult frogs （17 male and 16 female frogs） were collected from a natural population in Nan Province, northem Thailand during the wet season of 2014. Blood samples were analyzed by packed cell volume （PCV） and blood cell counts from hemocytometer and Giemsa-stained blood smears. The mean PCV of male frogs （30.70% ±6.07%） was significantly higher than that of the female frogs （25.09%± 4.85%）. The mean number of lymphocytes and neutrophils also showed significant sex-related differences. Moreover, the morphometric analysis of blood cells revealed dimensions as follows： erythrocytes （17.96 ±1.44 μm length × 11.50 ± 1.09μm width）, immature erythrocytes （14.91 ± 2.20 μm diameter）, thrombocytes （13.93± 3.14 μm length × 7.05 ± 1.31 μm width）, lymphocytes （11.01 ±2.69μm diameter）, monocytes （12.04±2.40 μm diameter）, neutrophils （12.58 -±2.08μm diameter）, basophils （13.60 ± 2.17μm diameter） and eosinophils （12.33 ± 2.95 μm diameter）. Overall, the hematological parameters obtained in this study could be regarded as the first report and a crucial baseline data of wild H. rugulosus in Thailand that can be used for monitoring the health status of this anuran.

CH_4 EMISSION FROM A CHINESE RICE PADDY FIELD

CH_4 emission rates have been measured continuously for the early rice of 1988 and late rices of 1987 and 1988 during entire growing seasons in a rice paddy field in Hangzhou,Zhejiang Province,China,by using an automatic sampling and analyzing system.During most parts of the seasons CH_4 emission rates showed strong diurnal variations.Bi-mode patterns with the highest value in the afternoon and a second peak at mid-night were generally found for the early rice,while the highest values were almost always found in the night for the late rice.Bi-mode patterns with a second peak in the afternoon were also found during the reproductive phase of the late rice plants.These diurnal variations may be explained by the diurnal variations of the soil temperature and the activity of rice plants.Strong seasonal variations with one peak in the tillering stage and two during the reproductive phase of rice plants were observed for all the three growing seasons.The seasonal variations may be explained by the activity of rice plants,availability of organic substrates in the soil,and the activity of soil bacteria related to soil temperatures,Fertilization did not show significant effects on the total seasonal CH_4 emissions but slightly changed the pattern of the seasonal variations of the CH_4 emission rates.Averaged over the measuring periods and 8 spots,CH_4 emission rates of 7.8 mg m^(-2) h^(-1) for the early rice and 28.6 mg m^(-2) h^(-1) for the late rice were obtained. Based on these measured data,the total global emission of CH_4 from rice paddies is estimated to be about 90 Tg/yr ranging from 70 to 110,accounting for 20% of the total source of CH_4.

Abundance and biomass of assorted small indigenous fish species:Observations from rural fish markets of West Bengal,India

The small indigenous fish species(SIS)are harvested as ensemble of different fish species of varying size and shape.An appraisal of the abundance and biomass of fish species constituting such ensemble was carried out with samples collected from fish markets ofWest Bengal,India.The data revealed that at least 22 different fish species were present varying in numbers and species combinations.The abundance and biomass of the individual fish species was negatively correlated,indicating numerical dominance of small sized species.Logarithmic regression showed a good fit of the relative abundance(y)with the species richness(x)in the samples of SIS(y=55.72ln(x)e 77.27;r^(2)=0.940),while power regression was best fit for the relative biomass of individual fish(y)with the species richness(x)in the samples of SIS(y=24.58x^(-1.54);R^(2)=0.831).In overall both species specific and individual based biomass and abundance relationships were negatively correlated.In order to ascertain the harvest and marketability of the SIS in a judicious manner,monitoring of the fish assemblages in natural habitats is recommended.