Phosphorus fractions in an acid soil continuously fertilized with mineral and organic fertilizers

The effect of different treatments on the fate of applied P was investigated in a long-term field experiment started in 1972–1973 following a maize–wheat sequence. The soil samples were collected after 29 years of continuous addition of mineral fertilizers and amendments such as farmyard manure (FYM) and lime. The total P content of all the treatments increased compared to the original soil; NaOH-inorganic P (P_i) (NaOH-P_i) representing Fe and Al-bound P was the dominant P_i fraction. At the beginning of the experiment (1972–1973), the various P pools could be quantitatively ranked in the following order: residual P>NaOH-organic P (P_o)>NaOH-P_i>NaHCO₃-P_o>NaHCO₃-P_i>HCl-P>H₂O-P. As a result of continued P fertilization and cropping, the order changed as follows: residual P>NaOH-P_i>NaOH-P_o>NaHCO₃-P_i>NaHCO₃-P_o>HCl-P>H₂O-P. Compared to the imbalanced mineral fertilizer application, the balanced as well as integrated application of nutrients resulted in significantly lower P adsorption capacity of soils. The Olsen extractable-P fraction (plant-available P) increased from about 12 mg kg^–1 soil in 1972 to about 81 mg kg^–1 soil in the treatments receiving P for the last 29 years.