International Journal of Phytoremediation, 14:621–628, 2012 Copyright C  Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1522-6514 print / 1549-7879 online DOI: 10.1080/15226514.2011.619228 PHYTOREMEDIATION OF ARSENIC CONTAMINATED SOIL BY PTERIS VITTATA L. II. EFFECT ON ARSENIC UPTAKE AND RICE YIELD Asit Mandal, 1 T. J. Purakayastha, 1 A. K. Patra, 1 and S. K. Sanyal 2 1 Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, India 2 Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Kalyani, West Bengal, India A greenhouse experiment evaluated the effect of phytoextraction of arsenic from a contam- inated soil by Chinese Brake Fern (Pteris vittata L.) and its subsequent effects on growth and uptake of arsenic by rice (Oryza sativa L.) crop. Pteris vittata was grown for one or two growing cycles of four months each with two phosphate sources, using single super phos- phate (SSP) and di-ammonium phosphate (DAP). Rice was grown on phytoextracted soils followed by measurements of biomass yield (grain, straw, and root), arsenic concentration and, uptake by individual plant parts. The biomass yield (grain, straw and rice) of rice was highest in soil phytoextracted with Pteris vittata grown for two cycles and fertilized with diammonium phosphate (DAP). Total arsenic uptake in contaminated soil ranged from 8.2 to 16.9 mg pot -1 in first growing cycle and 5.5 to 12.0 mg pot -1 in second growing cycle of Pteris vittata. There was thus a mean reduction of 52% in arsenic content of rice grain after two growing cycle of Pteris vittata and 29% after the one growing cycle. The phytoextrac- tion of arsenic contaminated soil by Pteris vittata was beneficial for growing rice resulted in decreased arsenic content in rice grain of <1 ppm. There was a mean improvement in rice grain yield 14% after two growing cycle and 8% after the one growing cycle of brake fern. KEY WORDS: arsenic, phytoextraction, Pteris vittata, rice, grain, straw, content and uptake of arsenic INTRODUCTION Build up of arsenic in soil due to use of arsenic contaminated irrigation water has led to number of environmental problems in South Asia particularly in West Bengal, India and Bangladesh (Ullah 1998; Sanyal and Dhillon 2005; Uddin et al. 2005; Van Geen et al. 2006; Dittmar et al. 2007; Rahman et al. 2007) leading to concerns on rice production and food security (Khan et al. 2009). Increased arsenic concentrations in soil substantially reduce rice-grain yields and increase arsenic concentrations in rice grain and straw. Arsenic concentration as high as 24 mg kg -1 in straw (Rahman et al. 2008) and 1.8 mg kg -1 in Address correspondence to T. J. Purakayastha, Division of Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi 110012, India. E-mail: tpurakayastha@gmail.com 621