Abstract:
Transfer of metals from soil to plant depends on the availability of particular elements in soil and
the fertilizer which are applied to the agricultural fields. This study aims to determine the effect of
fertilizer application to the agricultural soil and to determine the soil to plant transfer coefficients of
selected elements in Eppawala Grama Niladhari Division (GND), Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Fifteen
soil and rice root samples were randomly collected from paddy fields and composite fertilizer samples
were prepared by adding Urea, Muriate of Potash and Rock Phosphate in the ratios which were used
by farmers in sampled area. Metals were analyzed by Inductive Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry
(ICP-MS-Agilent 7800). Mean concentrations of Cr, Fe, Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Zn in fertilizer composites
were 445.00±171.00, 114638.00±46722.00, 92.90±38.40, 178.00±109.00, 5.56±3.41, 912.00±534.00
and 2553.00±1452.00 in mg/kg respectively. Mean concentrations of Cr, Fe, Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Zn in
soil samples were 0.22±0.03, 135.10±38.90, 1.37±0.16, 0.25±0.30, 0.01±0.00, 0.32±0.07 and 40±10.3
in mg/kg respectively. The transfer coefficients (TC) of different metals were quantified to indicate
the lability of metals in soils. Greater TC value indicates relatively poor retention of metal in soil or
greater efficiency of plant roots to absorb metal, and low TC is attributed to strong sorption of metal
to the soil colloid. TCs from soil to roots for Cr, Fe, Cu, As, Cd, Pb and Zn were 62.14, 260.04, 46.93,
6.94, 21.26, 14.14 and 3.37 respectively. It indicates that rice roots absorb higher amounts of metals
in soil colloids which are resulting mostly from the fertilizer applications. It can be concluded that
considerable amount of metals coming from the fertilizers are remaining in the soil and the efficiency
of absorbing metals from plant roots is higher than the retention of metals in soil as having greater
Transfer Coefficients.
