Contamination of agricultural land by arsenic from irrigated water

Abstract

Ensuring safe drinking water is one of the prime objectives of the Government and the others those arc working in the water supply sector in Bangladesh. Arsenic is not only present in water but also in soil which are the main media of food production. The present study has been conducted to observe the contamination of agricultural land by arsenic from irrigated water. The study was conducted to find out a correlation between arsenic concentration in irrigation water and soil nutrient of different locations of Sadar upazila, Keshabpur upazila and Jhikargacha upazila of Jessore district. From this study it has been found that water of a significant number of irrigation wells in Jessore district (Sadar upazila, Jhikorgacha upazila and Keshabpur upazila) are contaminated by arsenic. There is no significant correlation between arscnic in ground water and other important parameters of ground water. In Keshabpur upazila, irrigated soil was collected ii'om SIX locations and corresponding irrigation water also collected and tested. However, it is found that relation between arsenic concentration of irrigation watcr and arsenic concentration in irrigated land is insignificant. The food chain issue is becoming more and more important as there is increased evidence of arsenic buildup in crops and different types of vegetation. In Samta village of Jessore district, rice and wheat are irrigated with arsenic affected water and it has been found that irrigated lands are also affected by arsenic. Average arsenic concentrations in rice grain are higher than wheat. However, the concentration of arsenic in rice and in wheat grain is insignificant. Arsenic concentration in root, grain and straw of rice is higher than wheat. The values obtained with grain, straw and root agreed well with the general trend of variation, i.e., grain<straw<root.