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Fate of Fertilizer P in Soils: Inorganic Pathway

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Phosphorus in Agriculture: 100 % Zero

Abstract

Soils never fertilized with P have usually a low P concentration (<0.02 mg l−1) in soil solution, which is below the crop needs. In acid soils, added P is adsorbed on the surfaces of iron and aluminum (hydr)oxides or, in calcareous soils, predominantly precipitated as calcium phosphates. Abundant organic and inorganic P fertilization in the industrial world has elevated the P status of agricultural soils and the large P surplus remains at least partly available to plants. In acidic soils Degree of P Saturation (DPS) can be used to indicate to which extent the potential sites for P sorption are already occupied. Repeated P applications increase the DPS and decreases P retention, and in calcareous soils, relatively easily soluble calcium phosphates are accumulated. Abundant residual fertilizer P results in a higher P concentration in soil solution. P supplying power in such soils is sufficient to meet the crop needs for several years, even decades, with P additions equaling to or smaller than the crop P uptake and apparently 100 % utilization of fresh fertilizer P can be achieved.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 27, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Markku Yli-Halla

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  1. Markku Yli-Halla
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Correspondence to Markku Yli-Halla .

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  1. Julius Kühn Institute, Institute for Crop and Soil Science, Braunschweig, Germany

    Ewald Schnug

  2. University of Groningen, Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Haren, Groningen, The Netherlands

    Luit J. De Kok

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Yli-Halla, M. (2016). Fate of Fertilizer P in Soils: Inorganic Pathway. In: Schnug, E., De Kok, L. (eds) Phosphorus in Agriculture: 100 % Zero. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7612-7_3

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