Groundwater should not be used for farming purposes to prevent arsenic (As) exposure for farm products, especially in the case of rice, a team of researchers has said citing the case of West Bengal where arsenic has been found in high content in groundwater. Large-scale arsenic (As) poisoning, mainly through food chain contamination, is deemed to be a lethal problem in the rice-growing areas of the Bengal Delta Plain (BDP) and other parts of the world.
The study paper by scholars and researchers from the School of Environmental Studies, the National Institute of Biological Genomics and Australia’s University Of Newcastle pointed out that since groundwater is more prone to arsenic exposure, farm products produced by using that water also become prone to the same exposure.
To prevent this, the report has suggested stressing on rainy season farming so that rainwater can be used. This remedy is extremely important considering that West Bengal is among those states which have extremely high arsenic concentration in groundwater. Historically as many as 83 blocks scattered over seven districts in West Bengal have arsenic levels in groundwater higher than the permissible limits.
The report, published in science magazine “Environmental Science & Pollution Research”, suggests if rice is cooked using arsenic-free water equivalent to three times of the quantity of rice being cooked, the level of arsenic exposure in that cooked rice comes down substantially.
It has also suggested that since selenium acts as instruments for combating arsenic, selenium fertilisers should be extensively used while paddy farming.
The research on this count was conducted on paddy varieties collected from Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, and West Midnapore. The research has revealed that of these varieties collected, the danger of arsenic exposure is maximum and also alarming in North 24 Parganas. While that from Kolkata is prone to moderate exposure, the one from West Midnapore is relatively safe on this count.
Yet another study noted that West Bengal, the largest rice producing state in India, is heavily devastated by the chronic and acute health hazards associated with As. “More than 26 million people across 2600 villages in this state ingest this toxicant from food and water on a regular basis. Residents of rural Bengal consume, on average, 450 g rice per capita per day to meet 73% of their daily caloric needs which, in endemic regions, is found laced with As, it said.