Remediation of Cd-contaminated acidic paddy fields with four-year consecutive liming.

Liming has been widely used to remediate Cd-contaminated acidic soils, but the effects of consecutive liming are still unclear. Four-year liming experiments were conducted to assess the remediation of Cd-contaminated acidic paddy fields in a double rice cropping system. With four-year consecutive liming (quicklime, 2.25 t ha per season), the soil pH was increased by an average of 0.57 units (0.10-1.16 units), while the soil DTPA-Cd and available Fe and Mn were reduced by 9%, 19% and 31% (p < 0.05), respectively. The exchangeable plus water-soluble Cd fraction in soil was reduced by 17%, while the soil carbonate-, Fe/Mn oxide- and organic-bound Cd fractions were increased by 23%, 41% and 10% (p < 0.05), respectively. The Cd in rice grain was reduced by 55% for early rice and 63% for late rice (p < 0.05) and in some cases was reduced to below the Chinese allowable limit (0.2 mg kg). High annual fluctuations in rice grain Cd could be caused by variations in the field water regime and in rainfall. With consecutive liming, the soil pH, DTPA-Cd and rice grain Cd varied greatly in the first three seasons and then remained relatively less variable. Meanwhile, soil available nutrients (N, P and K) and rice grain yield were little affected by liming. Soil DTPA-Cd linearly decreased with increasing soil pH, while the reduction of Cd in rice grain logarithmically decreased with increasing soil pH and the reduction in soil DTPA-Cd in the heading stage, indicating potential implications for forecasting rice grain Cd content. Therefore, consecutive liming with quicklime can be recommended for the remediation of Cd-contaminated acidic paddy fields, though supplementary measures are still necessary.