Impact of Irrigation with Zarjoub River Water on Heavy Metals Accumulation in Rice Grain

In this study the effects of irrigation water from five stations along the river and irrigation water from well water on heavy metals accumulation in rice were assessed. A pot experiment was carried out in a completely randomized design with three replications. Irrigation regimes were flooding, saturated condition, field capacity (FC), 0.8FC and 0.6FC. Pots with Khazar cultivar, being common in the watershed of Zarjoub River, in a silty clay soil were irrigated with six different water sources. The results show that all irrigation water treatments and all irrigation regimes polluted rice grains to copper and zinc, whereas all irrigation water treatments (well and river water) and all irrigation regimes polluted rice grains to lead (having a concentration higher than 0.2 mg/kg). The results show that except for well water, irrigation water treatments (from all stations along the Zarjoob River) did not pollute rice grains to cadmium. Irrigation regimes of 60 and 80 percent of field capacity polluted rice grains to cadmium.