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Soil properties and growing duration determine phosphorus phyto-availability dynamics of polyphosphate versus orthophosphate fertilizers

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Abstract

Purpose

Polyphosphate (poly-P) fertilizers were proposed to increase the low phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) of orthophosphate (ortho-P) fertilizer but empirical data is inconsistent. Our study is aimed at investigating how soil properties, application time, and growth duration affect their phyto-availability.

Methods

Olsen-P dynamics were monitored using six soils amended with either ortho-P or poly-P. Subsequently, two contrasting soils (sandy and loamy) were selected to estimate P availability to plants using wheat as a model plant. Mechanistic modelling was used to interpret P dynamics in these experiments.

Results

For poly-P amended soils, Olsen-P increased continuously, while using ortho-P fertilizer the highest values were attained right after application and then monotonously decreased afterward. Olsen-P dynamics varied greatly among soils depending on their sorption capacity and related properties. In sandy soils, Olsen-P was consistently higher for ortho-P. In highly calcareous soils, Olsen-P was higher for poly-P after three weeks. Plant experiments confirmed a greater uptake of poly-P over ortho-P in loamy soil and extended trials (4 months) but not in sandy soils or short-term trials (4 weeks). Geochemical modeling suggested that complexation of soil Ca by poly-P reduced long-term P immobilization.

Conclusions

Soil properties and growth duration affect the efficiency of ortho-P vs. poly-P fertilizers. In clayey soils and extended growth duration, poly-P fertilizer can enhance PUE due to its prolonged phyto-availability as compared to ortho-P. In sandy soils and short growth duration poly-P has little advantage. The complexation of Ca by poly-P may have caused the increase of P phyto-availability.

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Abbreviations

P:

Phosphorus

PUE:

P use efficiency

Ortho-P:

Orthophosphate

Poly-P:

Polyphosphate

DW:

Distilled water

SI:

Saturation index

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the CFPN fund (Center of Fertilization and Plant Nutrition, grant number ICLF_2016.3). We thank Yonatan Weizman for excellent technical assistance in the greenhouse and the lab and to Dr. Pinchas Fine and Dr. Moshe Halperin for helpful suggestions and manuscript revision.

Funding

This study was supported by the CFPN fund (Center of Fertilization and Plant Nutrition, grant number ICLF_2016.3).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gilat Research Center, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat, Israel

    Ran Erel, Adi Kushmaro-Bier, Qianqian Li & Natalie Toren

  2. The Department of Earth and Planetary Science, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

    David Yalin

  3. College of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, China

    Qianqian Li

  4. UMR Eco&Sols, INRAE, IRD, CIRAD, Institut Agro, University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France

    Frédéric Gérard

  5. The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be’er Sheva, Israel

    Natalie Toren

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  1. Ran Erel
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Correspondence to Ran Erel.

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Erel, R., Yalin, D., Kushmaro-Bier, A. et al. Soil properties and growing duration determine phosphorus phyto-availability dynamics of polyphosphate versus orthophosphate fertilizers. Plant Soil 485, 299–315 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-022-05830-6

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