Reactive rock phosphate fertilizers and soil testing for phosphorus: The effect of particle size of the rock phosphate

Abstract

North Carolina rock phosphate (NCRP) (highly carbonate—substituted apatite) was ground to produce three samples with different particle size distributions. The effectiveness of these fertilizers was compared with the effectiveness of superphosphate in a field experiment and three glasshouse experiments using lateritic soils from south-western Australia. Non-reactive Queensland rock phosphate (low carbonate-substituted apatite from the Duchess deposit) was also used in the pot experiments. Bicarbonate-soluble phosphorus extracted from the soil is widely used in Western Australia to predict plant yields from previously-applied fertilizer dressings. For both field and pot experiments bicarbonate-extractable phosphorus (soil test value) was measured and related to subsequent plant yields.

As calculated from the initial slope of the relationship between yield and the level of P applied, finely powdered NCRP was about 5–32% as effective as freshly-applied superphosphate in the year of application and also for two years after application in the field experiment, and for two successive crops in the three pot experiments. For both field and pot experiments, finely powdered NCRP, was at best, 1.5–2.0 times as effective as granular NCRP. Relative to freshly-applied superphosphate, the effectiveness of rock phosphates usually decreased with increasing level of application.

For each of the crops in the field experiment, the relationships between yield and phosphorus content of plants (i.e. internal efficiency curves) were similar for all fertilizers. Thus the low effectiveness of the rock phosphates relative to superphosphate was solely due to much less phosphorus being taken up by plants. By contrast, in the pot experiments internal efficiency curves differed for different fertilizers. This is attributed to differences in the rate of phosphorus uptake by plant roots during the early stages of plant growth.

For both field and pot experiments, soil test calibrations (the relationship between yield and soil test value) differed for rock phosphates and superphosphate. For superphosphate, soil test calibrations also differed for the three different years after the initial application of this fertilizer in the field experiment. For the second crop in the pot experiment, soil test calibrations differed for superphosphate applied at different times (before the first and the second crop). These results point out the difficulty of applying soil testing procedures to soils that have experienced different histories of fertilizer application.