Iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) are nutritional components of rice, plays an important role in its physiological processes and can minimize absorption of cadmium (Cd) in rice. Fe, Mn, and Cd transporters such as CAL1, OsNRAMP5, OsNRAMP1, OsIRT1, OsHMA3, and OsNAAT1 regulate uptake of Cd in rice. However, the effect of exogenous application of Fe, and Mn on the accumulation of Cd and relative expression (RE) of these transporters in rice has not been investigated. Therefore, a hydroponic culture experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of Fe and Mn on Cd uptake and RE of these transporters in rice. The results showed that the Fe and Mn application significantly decreased Cd in the roots and shoots of rice. Whereas, Cd concentration in the rice significantly increased with increasing Cd concentration in the solution. The addition of manganese in the culture medium can reduce the cadmium content of rice roots by 11.9–82.3% and shoots by 11.6–85.0%, while the addition of iron in the culture medium can reduce the cadmium content of rice roots and shoots by 26–65% and 9–683% respectively. Meanwhile, application of sufficient doses of Fe and Cd in solution culture increased RE of CAL1, OsNRAMP5, OsNRAMP1, OsIRT1, and OsNAAT1 in roots, whereas expression level of OsHMA3 was decreased. Similarly, expression level of CAL1, OsNRAMP5, and OsNRAMP1 significantly increased in roots in high Cd and Mn deficient treatments. This may be concluded that the Cd increases expression of CAL1, OsNRAMP5, OsNRAMP1, OsIRT1, and OsNAAT1 but decreases OsHMA3 expression in rice roots, which resulted in increased Cd uptake in hydroponically grown rice.

Contamination of paddy soils with heavy metals and metalloids poses a risk to human health through the food chain. For safe agricultural production in contaminated paddy soils, “in situ” remediation through the unavailability of heavy metals from contaminated soils was investigated in order to develop cost-effective and eco-friendly approaches for soils contaminated with complexed heavy metals (HMs) and metalloids. In the present study, the effectiveness of different soil amendments, including sulfur-containing materials (hair or cysteine), manganese compounds as an antagonist and an oxidant, zeolite and iron oxide as adsorbents, and their combinations through coating or modification, was investigated by a pot experiment with rice plants and chemical analysis. Two levels of each treatment were made, termed X1 and X2, which were a single and double dose of each treatment respectively, while CaCO₃ was used as a basal and pH enhancement amendment in all treatments to identify the best combination of the above treatments in the in situ remediation of heavy metals and metalloids. The rice plants were kept under the flooded condition. Results indicated that the bioavailability of As, Cd, Cr, and Pb in soil was significantly decreased with level two (X2) of iron oxide coated with modified hairs (T7X2) followed by level two (X2) of zeolite coated with KMnO₄. The iron oxide coated with modified hairs (X2) decreased the concentrations of heavy metals and metalloids in rice plants in the order Pb ˃ As ˃ Cr ˃ Cd by 81%, 80%, 79% and 46%, respectively, followed by zeolite coated with KMnO₄ (X2) in the order Pb ˃ As ˃ Cr ˃ Cd by 78%, 76%, 71%, and 31%, respectively, to control. The available content of these elements in soil was decreased in the order As > Cr> Pb > Cd by 67%, 66%, 64% and 60%, respectively, through iron oxide coated with modified hairs, followed by zeolite coated with KMnO₄ in the order Pb ˃ Cr ˃ Cd ˃ As by 57%, 53%, 50%, and 46%, respectively, to control, which can explain the decreased bioavailability by these amendments. In addition, the maximum shoot dry and leaf area were noticed in the pots treated with iron oxide coated with modified hairs and zeolite coated with KMnO₄. There is potential to use modified hairs (MHs) with iron oxide and KMnO₄-coated zeolite as soil amendments to develop a cost-effective and efficient “in situ” remediation technology for As, Cd, Pb, and Cr-contaminated rice paddy soils, especially for the soils with complex contamination by Cd and As.

Although inorganic and organic manures with high concentrations of heavy metals can lead to accumulation or contamination of heavy metals in soils, there are few reports on the effects of long-term application of swine and green manures on the accumulation of heavy metals in rice grains in paddy soils. A long-term field experiment, which was established in 1990 in paddy soil in Hangzhou, China, was used to investigate the effects of inorganic and organic manures on the availability and accumulation of heavy metals in soil and uptake by rice plant. The results showed that long-term application of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash (NPK) plus green manure or swine manure, and swine manure only increased 202%, 146%, and 100% for total Cd, and 5.5%, 7.6%, and 6.6% for total Cu in rice grains, respectively compared to the control without fertilization. Total Zn in rice grain was significantly increased by 13.9% for the treatment of NPK plus green manure. The accumulation of Cd, Zn, and Cu in rice grains after long-term application of swine and green manures is due to the combined effects of the increased concentrations of total and EDTA extractable Cd, Zn, and Cu in soil and the changes of soil properties. Furthermore, the highest bioconcentration factor for Cd was found in the treatment of NPK plus green manure while for Zn and Cu it was observed in NPK treatment. Thus, it may be concluded that green manure and manure with increased Cd, Zn, and Cu in rice grain results in a potential risk of metal accumulation in paddy soils.

The tremendous increase in industrial development and urbanization has become a severe threat to the Chinese climate and food security. The Agricultural Production System Simulator model was used to simulate soil nitrogen in black soil in Yangling Jilin Province for 20 years. The observed values are consistent with the simulated values. The predicted values of total soil NO₃⁻–N and NH₄⁺–N nitrogen are 10 kg ha⁻¹ and 5 kg ha⁻¹ higher than the observed values. The total soil NO₃⁻–N loss has the same trend as the rainfall, and it increases with the number of rainfall days over the years. The average 20 years losses of NO₃⁻–N and NH₄⁺–N observed were 1375.91 kg ha⁻¹, and 9.24 kg ha⁻¹, while in the simulation increase was 1387.01 kg ha⁻¹ and 9.28 kg ha⁻¹, respectively. The difference between the observed and simulated values of NO₃⁻–N and NH₄⁺–N of mean loss was 11.15 kg ha⁻¹ and 0.04 kg ha⁻¹ respectively. Moreover, our findings highlight the opportunity further to improve management policies (especially for nitrogen) to maintain crop yield.

Modelling the lime requirement (LR) is a fast and efficient way to determine the amount of lime required to obtain a pH that can overcome the adverse effects caused by soil acidification. This study aimed to model the LR based on the properties of soil and lime. A total of 17 acidic soils and 39 lime samples underwent soil–lime incubation in the laboratory. The predictive equations for the LR (t ha⁻¹) were modelled using ∆pH (the difference between the target pH and initial pH), the neutralizing value (NV, mmol kg⁻¹) of lime, soil pH, soil clay content (%), soil bulk density (BD, g cm⁻³), and the depth of soil (h, cm) as the factors in an exponential equation. The generic predictive equation, $\mathrm{L}\mathrm{R}=∆\mathrm{p}\mathrm{H}\times {\mathrm{e}}^{-3.88-0.069\times \mathrm{N}\mathrm{V}+0.51\times \mathrm{p}\mathrm{H}+0.025\times \mathrm{C}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{y}}\times \mathrm{B}\mathrm{D}\times \mathrm{h}$, was validated as the most reliable model under field conditions. Simplified predictive equations for different soil textures when limed with quicklime and limestone are also provided. Furthermore, the LR proportions provided by hydrated lime, quicklime, limestone, and dolomite in commercially available lime can be expressed as 0.58:0.64:0.97:1.00. This study provides a novel and robust model for predicting the amount of lime product containing components with different neutralizing abilities that are required to neutralize soils with a wide range of properties. It is of great significance to agronomic activities and soil remediation projects.