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Residual phosphorus effects and nitrogen × phosphorus interactions in soybean–maize rotations on a P-deficient Ferralsol

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Abstract

Legume-cereal rotations are an essential component of integrated soil fertility management in low-input cropping systems, but strategies are needed to increase phosphorus (P) fertilizer use efficiency in such systems. These may include preferential targeting of P to one of the crops in the rotation cycle, the use of P-efficient genotypes, and the optimization of the rates of P fertilizer used. A field trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of increasing P fertilizer rates (0, 11, 22 and 44 kg P ha−1, added as triple super phosphate) applied to three soybean genotypes grown on a P-deficient Ferralsol, on the nitrogen (N) and P nutrition of a subsequent maize crop. In addition, a greenhouse trial was set up to assess N, P and other rotation effects of three soybean genotypes on a subsequent maize crop relative to a maize–maize rotation at high and low P supply. In the field trial, soybean did not respond to increasing P rates, but residual P effects improved maize grain yields by up to 90 %. Ear leaf (field trial) and shoot (pot trial) P concentrations increased by applying N to maize, demonstrating important N × P interactions. The pot trial did not reveal a positive rotation effect of soybean on maize beyond the mere N-benefit, showing that soybean was not able to improve P availability to maize after correcting for the N-effect. No variation in rotation effects on maize among soybean genotypes was observed. Because of the absence of effects of the soybean crop on P availability to maize, opportunities to increase P fertilizer use efficiency in soybean–maize rotations mainly reside in maximizing P uptake by each crop separately and in matching P fertilizer rates with crop demand.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to the farmers of Nyabeda who provided land for the trials and assisted in the field activities. We thank Laban Nyambega and Nelson Okello and the team of TSBF-CIAT Maseno for their help with the field trials and the sample processing. We are also grateful to the team of TSBF-CIAT Nairobi for carrying out lab analyses, and to Philip Malala, Magdalene Mutia and Purity Nduku for their help with the greenhouse work. Funds for this research were provided by the N2Africa project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Howard G. Buffet Foundation. Elke Vandamme acknowledges a VLIR-UDC PhD scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Africa Rice Center, P.O. Box 33581, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    E. Vandamme

  2. Division Soil and Water Management, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    P. Pypers, E. Smolders & R. Merckx

  3. Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Institute of CIAT (TSBF-CIAT), P.O. Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya

    P. Pypers

  4. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), P.O. Box 30772, Nairobi, Kenya

    B. Vanlauwe

  5. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), P.O. Box 34441, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    F. Baijukya

Authors
  1. E. Vandamme
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  2. P. Pypers
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  3. B. Vanlauwe
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  4. F. Baijukya
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  5. E. Smolders
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  6. R. Merckx
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Correspondence to E. Vandamme.

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Vandamme, E., Pypers, P., Vanlauwe, B. et al. Residual phosphorus effects and nitrogen × phosphorus interactions in soybean–maize rotations on a P-deficient Ferralsol. Nutr Cycl Agroecosyst 98, 187–201 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10705-014-9605-1

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