IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v16y2026i13p1464-d1983064.html

Responses of Soil Physicochemical Properties, Cd Bioavailability, and the Rhizosphere Bacterial Community to Partial Root-Zone Alternate Irrigation with Reclaimed Water Under Cadmium Gradients

Author

Listed:
  • Jiaxin Cui

    (Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Sumy Intenationnal School, Xinxiang 453002, China)

  • Ping Li

    (Farmland Irrigation Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang 453002, China
    Water Environment Factor Risk Assessment Laboratory of Agricultural Products Quality and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Xinxiang 453002, China)

  • Jianfeng Lang

    (Henan Institute of Science and Technology, Sumy Intenationnal School, Xinxiang 453002, China)

  • Tong Li

    (China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing 100048, China)

  • Wei Guo

    (Agricultural Water Soil Environmental Field Research Station of Xinxiang, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Xinxiang 453002, China)

  • Mahmoud S. Hashem

    (Agricultural Research Center, Agricultural Engineering Research Institute (AEnRI), Giza 256, Egypt)

Abstract

Introduction: Agricultural water scarcity and cadmium (Cd) contamination threaten global food security. Reclaimed water (RW) and partial root-zone alternate irrigation (PRA) offer possible solutions, but their synergistic effects on Cd-contaminated soils remain unclear. Objective: This study evaluated the impacts of PRA with RW on Cd-polluted tomato-growing soils. Methods: A pot experiment was conducted with 5 Cd levels (0.30–2.74 mg/kg, 5 replicates each). Soil properties, enzyme activities, Cd fractions, and 16S rRNA microbiome were analyzed. Results: PRA with RW increased rhizosphere pH by 0.42 units ( p < 0.01), decreased EC by 18.7% ( p < 0.05), and available Cd by 12.3% ( p < 0.05). Catalase activity rose by 27.47% ( p < 0.05), while sucrase and urease decreased by 32.1% and 28.5% ( p < 0.01). Beneficial Actinobacteria (+8.26%) and Proteobacteria (+4.64%) were enriched, and Bacillus was reduced by 11.8%. Flavisolibacter ( r = 0.802, p < 0.001) and Nocardioides ( r = 0.572, p < 0.001) were key genera. Conclusions: PRA with RW reduces Cd bioavailability and ecological risks, providing a sustainable strategy for mildly/moderately polluted farmland soil.

Suggested Citation

  • Jiaxin Cui & Ping Li & Jianfeng Lang & Tong Li & Wei Guo & Mahmoud S. Hashem, 2026. "Responses of Soil Physicochemical Properties, Cd Bioavailability, and the Rhizosphere Bacterial Community to Partial Root-Zone Alternate Irrigation with Reclaimed Water Under Cadmium Gradients," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-20, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:16:y:2026:i:13:p:1464-:d:1983064
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/16/13/1464/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/16/13/1464/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:16:y:2026:i:13:p:1464-:d:1983064. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask MDPI Indexing Manager to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.