Site-specific phosphorus application based on the kriging fertilizer-phosphorus availability index of soils

J Environ Qual. 2002 Jul-Aug;31(4):1248-55. doi: 10.2134/jeq2002.1248.

Abstract

Site-specific phosphorus management is done to optimize crop production and minimize P loss from soils. The spatial variability of the available P prior to fertilizer application and the P-fixation tendency of soil both need to be taken into account for variable-rate P application. The objectives of this research were to document the spatial variability of the fertilizer-P availability index, which shows the P-fixation tendency, and to develop a strategy that takes the spatial distribution of this index into account for site-specific phosphorus application. In this study, the spatial patterns of the fertilizer-P availability index were characterized by using geostatistics. The ordinary kriging was used for spatial interpolation of the fertilizer-P availability index. Because the fertilizer-P availability index of soil is related to oxalate-extractable Fe and Al and because measuring oxalate-extractable Fe and Al is much easier than directly determining the fertilizer-P availability index, the spatial distribution of the fertilizer-P availability index can be obtained using the oxalate-extractable Fe and Al data. The spatial distribution of Olsen-extractable P, which was used to measure the available-P status prior to fertilizer-P application, was also estimated by using ordinary kriging. The required fertilizer-P amounts were then determined using the kriging estimates of the fertilizer-P availability index and Olsen-extractable P. A fertilizer-P recommendation map for the 430-ha study site in Changhua county, Taiwan was generated by using this approach for illustration. The proposed method for generating fertilizer-P recommendation maps can be used for variable-rate application to maintain an adequate P status for crop production and to potentially reduce the P loss from soils.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture
  • Biological Availability
  • Fertilizers*
  • Phosphorus / analysis
  • Phosphorus / chemistry*
  • Phosphorus / metabolism
  • Soil Microbiology
  • Soil Pollutants / analysis
  • Soil*

Substances

  • Fertilizers
  • Soil
  • Soil Pollutants
  • Phosphorus