Use of adsorption and buffer capacity in soil testing for phosphorus

Abstract

The methods used to predict phosphorus (P) fertilizer requirements use extractable P levels. The inclusion of soil P buffer capacity with extractable P levels to improve fertilizer P prediction accuracy should be further investigated for Mediterranean soils. The objectives of this study, were to characterize the P adsorption properties of selected soils and to compare different soil P buffering capacity indices to determine their contribution to predict P fertilizer requirement. Twenty‐one soils were collected and P adsorption isotherms determined. On 11 soils wheat was grown in the greenhouse and P requirement determined. The Langmuir adsorption isotherm described the P adsorption of all soils. The prediction of crop P requirement was improved by the inclusion of a soil P buffer capacity index in the prediction equation. The index proposed by Salmon is easy to determine under routine soil analyses and does not require special analytical equipment. However, clay content can be used to predict the Salmon buffer index for similar soils.