Influence of Phosphate on Transformation and Plant Uptake of Cadmium in Cd-amended Soils

Phosphate was found to have neither influence on Cd transformation nor effect on plant Cd uptake in three Cd-amended upland soils. However, on submerged red earth, high phosphate dressing inhibited the transformation of Cd from exchangeable fraction to other lower- available ones. Cadmium uptake by rice plants increased simultaneously with increasing phosphate supply though plant resistance to Cd also increased at high phosphate level. Application of phosphate as an amendment for Cd-contaminated soil was therefore not recommended in view of the increasing influx of Cd into food chain especially on flooded soils.