Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima
Yamakiya District in the town of Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture, was evacuated after the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in 2011. Since then, nuclear decontamination procedures have been applied to the surrounding environment, including a...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2019-04-01
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| Series: | Plant Production Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1343943X.2018.1543546 |
| _version_ | 1818420385962524672 |
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| author | Katashi Kubo Hiroyuki Kobayashi Ryusuke Fujimoto Takeshi Ota Takuro Shinano |
| author_facet | Katashi Kubo Hiroyuki Kobayashi Ryusuke Fujimoto Takeshi Ota Takuro Shinano |
| author_sort | Katashi Kubo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Yamakiya District in the town of Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture, was evacuated after the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in 2011. Since then, nuclear decontamination procedures have been applied to the surrounding environment, including agricultural fields. The decontamination procedure for agricultural fields consists of the removal of radiation-contaminated surface soil, followed by soil dressing and plowing. However, radioactive cesium (RCs) remains in the soil even after decontamination. In this study, we investigated the effect of applying nitrogen, potassium fertilizers, and cattle manure compost on buckwheat growth and the concentration of RCs in the grain of buckwheat cultivated in a decontaminated field from 2014 to 2016. Applications of potassium fertilizer and cattle manure compost increased the soil exchangeable potassium content and decreased the RCs concentration in the grain of buckwheat cultivated in the decontaminated field. Before the cultivation of the first buckwheat crop, the RCs concentration in soil varied widely and there were ‘hot spots’ with high RCs concentrations because of insufficient mixing of the original and the dressed soils. Therefore, soil had to be adequately mixed to avoid producing grain with a high RCs concentration. Buckwheat grew better when supplied with more nitrogen fertilizer than the conventional amount at the first cultivation, indicating that the dressed soil had low fertility. We also monitored buckwheat cultivation by local farmers in decontaminated fields from 2015 to 2017. By using potassium fertilizer, the farmers produced buckwheat grain with low RCs concentrations from 2015 to 2017. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:53:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-223a0a95620942339e82de60a6f94bea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1343-943X 1349-1008 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T12:53:38Z |
| publishDate | 2019-04-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Plant Production Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-223a0a95620942339e82de60a6f94bea2022-12-21T23:00:37ZengTaylor & Francis GroupPlant Production Science1343-943X1349-10082019-04-0122215916710.1080/1343943X.2018.15435461543546Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, FukushimaKatashi Kubo0Hiroyuki Kobayashi1Ryusuke Fujimoto2Takeshi Ota3Takuro Shinano4National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)NARO Agricultural Research CenterNational Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO)Yamakiya District in the town of Kawamata, Fukushima Prefecture, was evacuated after the nuclear accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in 2011. Since then, nuclear decontamination procedures have been applied to the surrounding environment, including agricultural fields. The decontamination procedure for agricultural fields consists of the removal of radiation-contaminated surface soil, followed by soil dressing and plowing. However, radioactive cesium (RCs) remains in the soil even after decontamination. In this study, we investigated the effect of applying nitrogen, potassium fertilizers, and cattle manure compost on buckwheat growth and the concentration of RCs in the grain of buckwheat cultivated in a decontaminated field from 2014 to 2016. Applications of potassium fertilizer and cattle manure compost increased the soil exchangeable potassium content and decreased the RCs concentration in the grain of buckwheat cultivated in the decontaminated field. Before the cultivation of the first buckwheat crop, the RCs concentration in soil varied widely and there were ‘hot spots’ with high RCs concentrations because of insufficient mixing of the original and the dressed soils. Therefore, soil had to be adequately mixed to avoid producing grain with a high RCs concentration. Buckwheat grew better when supplied with more nitrogen fertilizer than the conventional amount at the first cultivation, indicating that the dressed soil had low fertility. We also monitored buckwheat cultivation by local farmers in decontaminated fields from 2015 to 2017. By using potassium fertilizer, the farmers produced buckwheat grain with low RCs concentrations from 2015 to 2017.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1343943X.2018.1543546buckwheatdecontaminationfukushimapotassium applicationradionucliderelaunching of agriculturesoil fertility |
| spellingShingle | Katashi Kubo Hiroyuki Kobayashi Ryusuke Fujimoto Takeshi Ota Takuro Shinano Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima Plant Production Science buckwheat decontamination fukushima potassium application radionuclide relaunching of agriculture soil fertility |
| title | Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima |
| title_full | Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima |
| title_fullStr | Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima |
| title_full_unstemmed | Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima |
| title_short | Towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011: a case study in Yamakiya District, Fukushima |
| title_sort | towards the partial resumption of agriculture with buckwheat cultivation in fields physically decontaminated of radioactive cesium after the nuclear power plant accident in 2011 a case study in yamakiya district fukushima |
| topic | buckwheat decontamination fukushima potassium application radionuclide relaunching of agriculture soil fertility |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1343943X.2018.1543546 |
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