Strontium in an agrocenosis on a soddy-podzolic soil under conditions of the long-term effect and aftereffect of fertilizers

In a long-term field experiment on a medium loamy soddy-podzolic soil at the Chashnikovo Training and Experimental Soil-Ecological Center of Moscow State University, 16.6 kg/ha of strontium were added to the soil with double superphosphate (P_ds) over 41 years of its regular application (overall, 3320 kg P_ds/ha were applied). As a result, the total strontium content in the soil increased by 1.1–1.3 times in comparison with the control. The changes in the content of the mobile strontium compounds were statistically insignificant. The strontium accumulation in the vetch and oats grown on the plot with the P_ds application was 1.4–2.4 times greater than that in the control and in the NK variant. The strontium content in the plants was maximum on the nonlimed plots. Liming, especially in combination with application of organic fertilizers, led to changes in the soil chemical properties controlling the strontium mobility, which resulted in the lower uptake of strontium by the plants. However, the same factors predetermined an increase in the yield of the crops and a more active removal of strontium with the harvested plants. Ten years after the cessation of the fertilization, no increase in the concentration of the strontium in the perennial grasses grown on the plots with the former P_ds application was registered.