A Survey upon Nitrogen and Phosphorus Alteration in Soil and Soil Water in the Fertilization process

It’s known that Untilled dairy pasture has the potential to release more phosphorus to the environment than a regularly ploughed pasture. In this paper we report the initial results of a study comparing the effects of cultivation, phosphorus (P) Fertilizer (10, 35, and 100 kg P/ha), and two types of vegetation , in a randomized complete block design. Phosphorus was measured in soil samples taken from depths of 0–20 mm and 0–100 mm. Waters extracted from the 0–20 mm samples were also analyzed. In all cases, the P concentrations (such as Total P, CaCl2 extractable P, Dissolved Reactive P, and Total Dissolved P) in the top 20 mm declined with ploughing. Dissolved Reactive P measured in the soil water was 70% less overall in the ploughed plots compared with the unploughed plots, and by 35 weeks after P treatments the decrease in Dissolved Reactive P was 66%. The effects of the Fertilizer and pasture treatments were inconclusive. The data suggest that ploughing can lower the risk of P exports from intensive dairy farms in the trial area.

A Survey upon Nitrogen and Phosphorus Alteration in Soil and Soil Water in the Fertilization process Keywords:

ecosystems , phosphorus , fertilization , soil , environmental