Simultaneous alleviation of antimony toxicity in rice and in-Vitro bio-accessibility by using biochar and seaweed based fertilizer blend

Antimony (Sb) toxicity is a significant threat to crop production and humans. Its concentration is increasing in soil and water due to human activities which needs dire attention to address this challenge. Biochar is a promising amendment to remediate polluted soils, however, its role in mitigating the toxic impacts of Sb on plants is still unclear. Seaweed-based fertilizer (SBF) has shown appreciable results in improving plant performance, however, its role against metal/metalloids toxicity has not been studied yet. Therefore, this study tested the impacts of BC and SBF in mitigating the harmful effects of Sb on rice. The study was carried out with the following treatments; control, Sb stress (600 mg kg−1), Sb stress + biochar (2%), Sb stress + seaweed-based fertilizer (SBF: 2%), and Sb stress + BC (1%) and SBF (1%). The results showed that Sb toxicity adversely affected rice growth and productivity by impeding photosynthetic pigments, leaf relative water contents, increasing production of oxidative stress biomarkers (electrolyte leakage: EL, hydrogen peroxide: H2O2, malondialdehyde: MDA), and accumulation of Sb in plant parts. Contrarily, BC and SBF blends mitigated Sb-induced growth and yield damages in rice by improving photosynthetic efficiency, osmolyte synthesis, nutrient uptake, soil enzymatic activity, and antioxidant activities. Moreover, BC and SBF blend also reduced the bio-accessible Sb concentration (95.63%), bio-accessibility of Sb (25.40%), Sb transport coefficient (35.70%) and soil Sb antimony concentration (52.74%). Given these findings, the co-application of BC and SBF showed a profound improvement in rice yield by regulating photosynthetic performance, antioxidant activities, oxidative stress markers, antioxidant activities, and soil properties.