Potassium applications reduced cesium uptake and altered strontium translocation in soybean plants

After the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, radioactive cesium (RCs) was released in greater concentrations than radioactive strontium (RSr) in the surrounding environment. Most of the countermeasures were developed to mitigate the RCs transfer from the soil to plants. However, to avoid what has happened after the Chernobyl and Mayak accidents, preventing the transfer of RSr from soil to plants should be a priority. Although the application of potassium (K) fertilizers is the most effective method for preventing agricultural crops from absorbing RCs in contaminated fields, this implementation increases the cost and labor requirements. Considering the preparedness for nuclear accidents, it remains unclear how this countermeasure will be affected if RCs and RSr are released simultaneously. We aimed to explore the effect of K applications on cesium (Cs) and strontium (Sr) uptake and their interaction with and correlation to other elements in the soybean plants and soil. The field experiments were conducted in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, using different K applications (i.e., no, normal, and high K applications). The dry weight and mineral concentrations of K, Cs, Sr, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), and nitrogen (N) concentration in plants and exchangeable K (ExK), exchangeable Cs (ExCs), exchangeable Sr (ExSr), exchangeable Ca (ExCa), exchangeable Mg (ExMg), NH4+ (ammonium), and NO3- (nitrate) concentrations in the soils were evaluated. This study revealed that K application reduced Cs, Ca, and Mg uptake but did not affect the ExSr, ExCa, and ExMg concentrations in the soil and did not change the uptake of Sr. On the other hand, K concentration of the plant especially at later growth stage, which indicates re-translocation of Sr was negatively regulated by K concentration

Specific Variation in Shoot Growth and Root Traits Under Waterlogging Conditions of The Seedlings of Tribe Triticeae including Mizutakamoji (Agropyron Humidum)

Waterlogging Stress is An Important Limiting Factor For Wheat and Barley Production. Waterlogging Tolerance Was Evaluated in The Seedlings of Seven Species From The Tribe Triticeae, including Wheat, Barley, Durum Wheat, Rye (Diploid and Tetraploid), Triticale, Einkorn Wheat, and Mizutakamoji (Agropyron Humidum), To Acquire Basic information About Their Variation in Waterlogging Tolerance and To Elucidate Opportunities For Genetic Improvement of Waterlogging Tolerance in Cultivated Wheat and Barley. The Seedlings At The One Leaf Stage Were Subjected To Waterlogging For 0 (Control: Ct) Or 12 Days (Waterlogging: Wt) in Plastic Cups (12 Cm Tall, 8 Cm in Diameter), and The Morphological Traits of Shoots and Roots Were Measured. Shoot Dry Weights (Dw) of Wheat (Cv. Norin 61) and Barley (Cv. Benkeimugi) Were Lower Under Wt By 73% and 59%, Respectively, Than Those in Ct. of All The Evaluated Genotypes, Only A. Humidum SHowed No Reduction in Shoot Dw Under Wt. The Relative Shoot Dw (W/C in Shoot Dw; Proportion of Shoot Dw in Wt To That in Ct) Was Significantly Correlated With Relative Root Dw (W/C in Root Dw). The W/C in Root Dw Correlated Significantly With W/C in The Number and Length of Adventitious Roots, and With W/C in Frequency of Branching Roots On The Seminal Root, Suggesting That Development of Adventitious Roots and Branching Roots Under Wt Might Be Related To Waterlogging Tolerance in Tribe Triticeae. The Results of This Study indicated That Wild Species of Tribe Triticeae, Such As A. Humidum, Might Be Useful Resources To Analyze Waterlogging Tolerance in Cultivated Wheat and Barley

Powder materials for gas-thermal spraying of coatings

22.00; Translated from Russian (Stal' 1985 (4) p.78-81)SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:9022.06(BISI--24077)T / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Genotypic Variation of the Ability of Root to Penetrate Hard Soil Layers among Japanese Wheat Cultivars(Crop Physiology and Ecology)

The hard soil in the field is a major constraint for the cereal production because it mechanically restricts the root expansion and water absorption. The ability of root to penetrate into the hard soil is an important factor affecting yield stability of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under hard soil and drought conditions. We investigated the variation in the penetrating ability of roots (PA) among Japanese wheat cultivars and its relationship with other shoot and root characters to acquire basic information to develop the cultivars with a higher PA. The evaluation was conducted by the two experiments using the two groups of cultivars : 1) 43 Hokkaido cultivars in the first experiment, 2) 38 Honsyu, including Shikoku and Kyusyu, cultivars in the second experiment. In each experiment, one seedling of each cultivar was grown in a pot with a disc made of paraffin and Vaseline mixture (PV) as a substitute for the hard soil layer. The number of roots penetrating through the PV disc per plant (NRP), the number of seminal and crown roots reached the PV disc per plant (NRR) and the penetration index (PI=NRP/NRR) of each cultivar were evaluated as the traits related to PA. NRP significantly varied with the cultivar from 4.0 to 29.7 and 3.0 to 22.0 in the first and second experiments, respectively. NRP were significantly correlated with NRR (r=0.644 in the first and r=0.477 in the second experiment) and PI (r=0.863 in the first and r=0.811 in the second experiment), but the relationships between NRR and PI were not significant (r=0.260 in the first and r=0.190 in the second experiment). NRR was significantly correlated with the degree of winter growth habit (requirement of vernalization), root dry weight (DW) above the PV disc, the number of stems and leaf DW in each population. Correlations between PI and other characters were low or not significant. These results indicate that a large genotypic variation exists among Japanese wheat cultivars in NRP, and that PI is a suitable indicator of PA. Cultivars with a high PA detected in this study will be useful genetic resources of wheat to improve the yield stability under drought and hard soil conditions

Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima

Yamakiya District in the town of Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture, was evacuated after the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in 2011. Since then, nuclear decontamination procedures have been applied to the surrounding environment, including agricultural fields. The decontamination procedure for agricultural fields consists of the removal of radiation-contaminated surface soil, followed by soil dressing and plowing. However, radioactive cesium (RCs) remains in the soil even after decontamination. In this study, we investigated the effect of applying nitrogen, potassium fertilizers, and cattle manure compost on buckwheat growth and the concentration of RCs in the grain of buckwheat cultivated in a decontaminated field from 2014 to 2016. Applications of potassium fertilizer and cattle manure compost increased the soil exchangeable potassium content and decreased the RCs concentration in the grain of buckwheat cultivated in the decontaminated field. Before the cultivation of the first buckwheat crop, the RCs concentration in soil varied widely and there were ‘hot spots’ with high RCs concentrations because of insufficient mixing of the original and the dressed soils. Therefore, soil had to be adequately mixed to avoid producing grain with a high RCs concentration. Buckwheat grew better when supplied with more nitrogen fertilizer than the conventional amount at the first cultivation, indicating that the dressed soil had low fertility. We also monitored buckwheat cultivation by local farmers in decontaminated fields from 2015 to 2017. By using potassium fertilizer, the farmers produced buckwheat grain with low RCs concentrations from 2015 to 2017

Effect of soil exchangeable potassium content on cesium absorption and partitioning in buckwheat grown in a radioactive cesium-contaminated field

The effect of soil exchangeable (plant-available) potassium (ExK) content on cesium (Cs) absorption and translocation in buckwheat was evaluated in a field contaminated with radioactive Cs (134Cs and 137Cs, RCs) in 2013. The RCs concentration in buckwheat was significantly positively correlated with the naturally occurring stable Cs (133Cs, SCs) concentration, and was lower at higher soil ExK content. The RCs and SCs were actively absorbed by buckwheat until the flowering stage. The soil ExK content was significantly negatively correlated with soil exchangeable RCs and SCs (ExRCs and ExSCs) concentrations. Greater RCs and SCs absorption by buckwheat in soils with low ExK contents was mainly due to higher soil ExRCs and ExSCs concentrations. Reproductive organs showed the largest differences in SCs concentration between low-ExK and high-ExK plots. The root–shoot and shoot–reproductive organs translocations of SCs markedly decreased with increasing soil ExK content. In the root–shoot and shoot–reproductive organs translocations, the discrimination of SCs and K decreased with decreasing soil ExK content. Our main findings were as follows: (1) because RCs are mainly taken up at the earlier growth stage, potassium should be applied as a basal fertilizer to decrease the RCs concentration in buckwheat; (2) lower soil ExK content led to higher soil ExRCs concentrations, resulting in greater RCs absorption by buckwheat; (3) the high Cs absorption and translocation and weaker discrimination between Cs and K in low ExK content soil may be due to the expression of K transporter(s) with weak discrimination between Cs and K