[Workshop 1]
Development of Phyto-technology for Decreasing Heavy Metal in Food

Outline

Date: October 6 (Tue) 9:00 - 17:00
October 7 (Wed) 9:00 - 12:00
Field Investigation, October 8 (Thu) 8:00 - 17:00
Venue: Epochal Tsukuba
Co-organized by: Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Food and Fertilizer Technology Center for the Asian and Pacific Region
Supported by: Japan Science and Technology Agency (Project: JST Japan and China Program)

Objectives

Along with industrial expansion, arable lands have been gradually degraded or contaminated with hazardous pollutants such as cadmium (Cd) and arsenate (As) in most of the Asian countries. In the two decades, this trend became obvious, and significantly aggravated the quality of soil and crop because of the increased concentration of pollutants in them. This will, in turn, bring about a great risk against human health and deteriorate environmental quality in this region.

Codex has proposed a new standard of Cd in agricultural products such as rice grain, wheat, vegetable, meat and so forth, and some Asian countries followed suit to change the critical concentrations of Cd in soils and crops. For many Asian countries, rice is an important staple crop, therefore, it is a matter of urgency to decrease Cd concentration in paddy soil, hence Cd content in rice grains as low as the Codex standard.

Recently, it is reported that one fourth of wells in Bangladesh are polluted by arsenic and that more than 30 million people can't be helped drinking the As-polluted water. Since then, intensive surveys have been conducted in various Asian countries where people are fully dependent on underground water for drinking. Consequently, the arsenic pollution is the problem in not only Bangladesh, but also many other Asian countries such as China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, India, and Pakistan. It is also reported that the mechanism of well-water pollution by arsenic is closely associated with agriculture practices, in particular, irrigation.

This international workshop is to aim at identifying and developing reliable, economic feasible and effective phyto-technology for decreasing Cd in food. In addition, the current status of As-pollution of water and soil in many Asian countries is to discuss in relation to agricultural practices, and to propose practical and effective countermeasures to reduce As-concentration in water and soil.

Conveners

Tomohito Arao and Tomoyuki Makino

Oral Session (Invited speakers only)

October 6 (Tue) 9:00-17:00

  1. From green to clean: a promising and sustainable approach to remove toxic metals from contaminated soils [PDF]
    Jean-Paul Schwitzguebel, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Switzerland
  2. Phytoextraction and management options to reduce cadmium and arsenic in food crops [PDF]
    Fang-Jie Zhao (Rothamsted Research Center, UK
  3. Phytoextraction of Cd by rice capable of accumulating Cd at high levels [PDF]
    Masaharu Murakami, National Institute for Agro-environmental Sciences, Japan
  4. Rhizosphere characters of zinc and cadmium contaminated soil after continuous phytoextraction by Sedum plumbizincicola [PDF]
    Longhua Wu, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, China
  5. Engineering Poplar Plants for Phytoremediation [PDF]
    Youngsook Lee, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Korea
  6. Tolerance mechanisms in cadmium-exposed Eichhornia crassipes Mart. Solms, a phytoremediator [PDF]
    Gilda C. Rivero, University of the Philippines, Philippines
  7. Challenges to use of genetic selection for reducing Cd concentration in crops [PDF]
    C. A. Grant, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada
  8. Genetic and physiological approach to elucidation of Cd absorption mechanism by rice plants [PDF]
    Satoru Ishikawa, National Institute for Agro-environmental Sciences, Japan
  9. Role of root functions on cadmium uptake by plants - structural aspects of root organization [PDF]
    Alexander Lux, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic
  10. Reduction of cadmium uptake of eggplant (Solanum melongena) by grafting onto Solanum torvum rootstock and characterization of cadmium translocation from roots to shoots [PDF]
    Tomohito Arao, National Institute for Agro-environmental Sciences, Japan
  11. Impact of use of As contaminated groundwater on soil As content and paddy rice production in Bangladesh [PDF]
    John M. Duxbury, Cornell University, USA
  12. Mechanisms of Arsenic Uptake and Metabolism by Plants: Focusing on Rice [PDF]
    Guo-Xin Sun, Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Beijing, China
  13. Remediation of As-polluted soil by plants [PDF]
    Nobuyuki Kitazima, Fujita Co., Japan

October 7 (Wed) 9:00-12:00

  1. Current status of As pollution in Asia

Field Investigation (After-Symposium-Program)

October 8 (Thu) 8:00 - 17:00

  • Industrial Heritage of IKUNO SILVER MINE (IKUNO GINZAN)
  • Phytoextraction using rice cultivars (Field trial)

  • Closed to new entries.

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