Options for Improved Phosphorus Cycling and Use in Agriculture at the Field and Regional Scales

Soil phosphorus (P) cycling in agroecosystems is highly complex, with many chemical, physical, and biological processes affecting the availability of P to plants. Traditionally, P fertilizer recommendations have been made using an insurance-based approach, which has resulted in the accumulation of P in many intensively managed agricultural soils worldwide and contributed to the widespread water quality issue of eutrophication. To mitigate further environmental degradation and because future P fertilizer supplies are threatened due to finite phosphate rock resources and associated geopolitical and quality issues, there is an immediate need to increase P use efficiency (PUE) in agroecosystems. Through cultivar selection and improved cropping system design, contemporary research suggests that sufficient crop yields could be maintained at reduced soil test P (STP) concentrations. In addition, more efficient P cycling at the field scale can be achieved through agroecosystem management that increases soil organic matter and organic P mineralization and optimizes arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) symbioses. This review paper provides a perspective on how agriculture has the potential to utilize plant and microbial traits to improve PUE at the field scale and accordingly, maintain crop yields at lower STP concentrations. It also links with the need to tighten the P cycle at the regional scale, including a discussion of P recovery and recycling technologies, with a particular focus on the use of struvite as a recycled P fertilizer. Guidance on directions for future research is provided.