Phosphate rock fertilizer in acid soils: comparing phosphate extraction methods for measuring dissolution

摘要

Three phosphate extraction methods were used to investigate the dissolution, availability and transformation of Kunyang phosphate rock (KPR) in two surface acid soils. Dissolution was determined by measuring the increase in the amounts of soluble and adsorbed inorganic phosphate fractions, and did not differ significantly among the three methods. Significant correlations were obtained among P fractions got by the three extraction methods. Dissolution continued until the end of the 90-day incubation period. At the end of the period, much of the applied phosphate recovered in both soils were in the Al- and Fe-P or in the hydroxide- and bicarbonate-extractable inorganic P fractions. The dissolution of KPR in the two soils was also similar: increased addition of phosphate rock resulted in decreased dissolution. The similarity in the order and extent of dissolution in the two soils was probably due to the similarity in each soil of several factors that are known to influence phosphate rock dissolution, namely low CEC, pH, P level, and base status; and high clay and free iron and aluminum oxide contents. The results suggested that KPR could be an alternative P source in the long, if not the short, term in the soils, provided that those factors influencing P availability in the soils are not limiting.