Globally, the risk of arsenic (As) contamination in soil and rice is well documented across the globe. In Bangladesh, drinking water and rice are two major exposure pathways of As to humans. Therefore, the efficiency of recent technologies to reduce rice As and associated human health risks still need to be deeply investigated. In this direction, a pot experiment was performed to investigate the impact of soil As and agronomic irrigation management on rice (cv. BRRI dhan28) growth, yield, As accumulation, and finally, health risks to humans from consuming rice. Treatment combinations were made with three levels of As (0, 20, and 40 mg kg⁻¹) having two irrigation procedures, including alternate wetting and drying (AWD) and traditional continuous flooding (CF). According to the findings, As pollution in the soil lowered the yield contributing features and rice yield, including panicle length, filled grains per panicle, sterile grains per panicle, 1000-grain weight, grain yield, and straw yield. AWD water management significantly improved the growth performance and productivity of rice. Grain yield was increased by 13% in AWD compared to CF. Rice grain and straw As concentrations were increased to 0.56 mg kg⁻¹ and 15.10 mg kg⁻¹, respectively, in soil with 40 mg kg⁻¹ As and CF water management. AWD treatment significantly reduced grain and straw As contents by 16% and 28%, respectively. Increased grain, straw, and total As uptake was noticed with higher soil As concentrations. The study also found that rising soil As raised non-carcinogenic risks (HQ > 1) and carcinogenic risks (CR > 1.010–4) while AWD lowered health risks compared to CF. Thus, rice farming using AWD irrigation could be a viable and long-term solution for reducing As contamination in rice and associated human health hazards.

Plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are multipurpose entities in case of crop quality and yield improvement. This study evaluated the impact of PGPR inoculation in root zone nutrient release, rice yield, and grain nutrient (P, Fe, Mn, and Zn) content in two popular rice varieties of Bangladesh (viz., BRRI dhan49 and Binadhan7). It was a single factor (bacterial treatment) experiment where B0, B1, B2, and B3 treatments represented the inoculated control, indole acetic acid (IAA) producing bacteria consortium, phosphorus solubilizing bacteria (PSB) consortium, and combination of B1 and B2 treatments, respectively. Nutrients released in pore water was higher at 5 days after transplanting (DAT), compared to 25 DAT. Mostly B2 and B3 treatments performed significantly in the number of tillers/pots, straw yield, grain yield, grain P, Mn, Fe content, and all four nutrients uptake. The highest grain yield observed in B3 treatment is in both Binadhan7 (42.10±1.76 g/pot) and BRRI dhan49 (36.20±1.57 g/pot). PSB containing B2 treatment bio-fortified the largest amount of P in both rice varieties. On the other hand, the B3 treatment stored the highest amount of Mn (46.70±1.30 and 44.30±1.37 mg/kg) and Fe (45.30±2.90 and 25.70±2.37 mg/kg) in Binadhan7 and BRRI dhan49, respectively. The B3 treatment resulted in maximum nutrient content (P, Mn, and Fe) and uptake (P, Mn, Fe, and Zn) in both rice varieties. These bacterial isolates seemed promising for rice yield and quality improvement in an eco-friendly and sustainable way. Res. Agric. Livest. Fish. 10(1): 73-81