Residual value of superphosphate and Queensland rock phosphate for serradella and clover on very sandy soils as assessed by plant growth and bicarbonate-soluble phosphorus

1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 275 ◽  
Author(s):  
MDA Bolland ◽  
RJ Gilkes ◽  
DG Allen ◽  
MF D'Antuono

Superphosphate (0-0.4 t/ha P) and Queensland rock phosphate (0-20 t/ha P) were incorporated into the top 10 cm of very sandy soil near Esperance, W.A. The effectiveness of the fertilisers for pastures was calculated from dry herbage yields of yellow serradella, slender serradella and subterranean clover. Soil samples were collected just after fertiliser application and at intervals up to 2.5 years for measurement of bicarbonate-extractable phosphorus (soil test), which was related to plant yield. Results for all 3 species were very similar in response to superphosphate. The effectiveness of superphosphate decreased by about 50% between years 1 and 2, and by a further 25% between years 2 and 3. The effectiveness of Queensland rock phosphate was about 7% that offreshly applied superphosphate in the year of application for all 3 species and for the next 2 years, its effectiveness relative to freshly applied superphosphate remained about constant for yellow serradella and approximately doubled for slender serradella and clover. For superphosphate 2.5 years after application, the amount of phosphorus extracted by the soil test compared with freshly applied superphosphate decreased by about 80%. The soil test extracted a very small proportion of the phosphorus applied as Queensland rock phosphate and the amount extracted decreased by about 50% during 2.5 years. Although the plants responded strongly to increasing levels of applied phosphorus, soil test values remained low until yields of about half the maximum yield were attained. Separate calibration curves were required for each fertiliser and species and each calibration curve was best described by 2 component linear spline functions.


2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (9) ◽  
pp. 1117
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
J. S. Yeates ◽  
M. F. Clarke

To reduce leaching of phosphorus (P) from fertilised pastures to shallow estuaries in the high rainfall (>800 mm annual average) areas of south-western Australia, and to supply extra sulfur (S) for subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) in pasture, 'coastal superphosphate' was developed as a possible alternative P and S fertiliser to single superphosphate. Coastal superphosphate is made by adding phosphate rock and elemental S to single superphosphate as it comes out of the den before granulation. It has about 3 times more sulfur (S) and one-third the water-soluble P content than single superphosphate. Four long-term (5-year) field experiments were conducted in south-western Australia to compare the effectiveness of single and coastal superphosphate as S fertilisers for subterranean clover pasture grown on very sandy soils that are frequently S deficient after July each year due to leaching of S from soil. Seven different amounts of S were applied as fertiliser annually. Fertiliser effectiveness was assessed from clover herbage yield and S concentration in dried herbage. Fertiliser nitrogen was not applied in these experiments as this was the normal practice for pastures in the region when the research was conducted.Both coastal and single superphosphates were equally effective per unit of applied S for producing dried clover herbage and increasing S concentration in herbage. Previous research on very sandy soils in the region had shown that coastal superphosphate was equally or more effective per unit of applied P for production of subterranean clover herbage. It is, therefore, concluded that coastal superphosphate is a suitable alternative S and P fertiliser for clover pastures on very sandy soils in the region. The concentration of S in dried clover herbage that was related to 90% of the maximum yield (critical S) was about 0.20–0.35% S during August (before flowering) and 0.15–0.20% S during October (after flowering).



2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 121 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
I. F. Guthridge

Rain-fed dairy pastures on sandy soils common in the high rainfall (>800 mm annual average) Mediterranean-type climate of south-western Australia comprise the annual species subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum L.) and annual and Italian ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud. and L. multiflorum Lam.). In wet years, clover becomes potassium (K) deficient and shows large dry matter (DM) responses to applied fertiliser K due to leaching of K in soil by rainfall. In contrast, ryegrass rarely shows DM responses to applied K. Many dairy pastures in the region are now intensively grazed to maximise pasture use for milk production, and nitrogen (N) fertiliser is applied after each grazing. It is not known if frequent applications of fertiliser N to these pastures changes pasture DM responses to applied K. Therefore, a long-term (2002–07) field experiment was undertaken on an intensively grazed dairy pasture in the region to quantify pasture DM responses to applied fertiliser K with or without applications of adequate fertiliser N (141–200 kg N/ha per year). Soil samples (top 10 cm of soil) were collected from each plot of the experiment each February to measure soil test K by the standard Colwell sodium bicarbonate procedure used for both K and phosphorus soil testing in the region. When no N was applied, pasture comprised ~70% (dry weight basis) clover and 25% ryegrass, compared with ~70% ryegrass and 25% clover when adequate N was applied. Significant linear responses of pasture DM to applied K occurred in 3 of the 6 years of the experiment only when no N was applied and clover dominated the pasture. The largest response varied from ~1.7 to 2.0 t/ha DM consumed by dairy cows at all grazings in each year, giving a K response efficiency of between 8 and 10 kg DM/ha per kg K/ha applied. Significant pasture DM responses to applied N occurred at all grazings in each year, with ~2–3 t/ha extra DM consumed by dairy cows at all grazings in each year being produced when a total of 141–200 kg N/ha was applied per year, giving an N response efficiency of ~7–19 kg DM/ha per kg N/ha applied. Soil test K values were very variable, attributed to varying proportions of soil samples per plot collected between and within cow urine patches, containing much K, arbitrarily deposited on experimental plots during grazing. Soil test K values were not significantly affected by the rates of K applied per year. A re-evaluation of results from the major soil K test study conducted for pastures in the region confirm that ryegrass rarely showed DM responses to applied K, and that for clover, soil K testing poorly predicted the likelihood of K deficiency in the next growing season.



1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
MDA Bolland

In 2 experiments on sandy soil near Esperance, W. A., superphosphate and Duchess (Queensland) apatite rock phosphate were either left on the soil surface after application (topdressed) or incorporated into the top 10 cm of the soil with a rotary hoe (incorporated). One experiment was on Fleming gravelly sand which had a greater capacity to adsorb phosphorus than did the deep yellow sand (Gibson sand) used in the other experiment. Dry matter or seed yield of subterranean clover and phosphorus content of dry herbage or seed were used as indicators of the effectiveness of the phosphorus treatments. Compared with topdressed superphosphate, incorporation of superphosphate did not greatly influence its effectiveness on the Gibson soil, but reduced its effectiveness by about 20% on the Fleming soil. Relative to topdressed rock phosphate, incorporation of rock phosphate almost doubled its effectiveness on the Fleming soil, and improved its effectiveness by about 1.5 times on the Gibson soil. Superphosphate was the more effective fertiliser. Relative to topdressed superphosphate, the effectiveness of topdressed and incorporated Duchess rock phosphate, respectively, was about 15 and 30% on the Fleming soil, and about 25 and 40% on the Gibson soil. There was no evidence of any leaching of phosphorus from Duchess rock phosphate from the 0-10 cm layer of either soil, nor of superphosphate on the Fleming soil. However, on the Gibson soil, there was some leaching of superphosphate to below 10cm, but not below 20 cm.



1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (38) ◽  
pp. 320 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Spencer ◽  
D Bouma ◽  
DV Moye

Values obtained by a number of established soil test procedures for phosphorus and sulphur were correlated with yield responses to addition of the relevant nutrient, by subterranean clover-based pastures at 21 sites in south-eastern New South Wales. Colwell's bicarbonate-soluble P and Bray's P, phosphorus values showed sufficiently close associations with response to added phosphorus to be useful for predictive purposes ; Bray's P, values generally gave smaller coefficients. In general, the pasture on soils testing less than 25 p.p.m. bicarbonate-extractable P in the surface three inches responded appreciably to applied phosphorus (relative yields were <85 per cent). The corresponding value for the Bray P, procedure was 10 p.p.m. P. Soil samples from 0-1, 0-3, and 3-6 inch depths gave similar correlations with response. The time of soil sampling did not affect the relationships but winter pasture production was not as closely related to soil test values as was spring production. By contrast, soil tests for sulphur were not reliable but some discrimination between soils could be made with a 500 p.p.m. phosphate extraction. Values from soil samples collected in the winter were less closely related to response than were values from samples collected in the autumn.



1986 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 217 ◽  
Author(s):  
MDA Bolland ◽  
AJ Weatherley ◽  
RJ Gilkes ◽  
JW Bowden

The effectiveness, as a phosphate fertilizer, of granular reactive rock phosphate (carbonate substituted apatite from North Carolina, U.S.A.), granular triple superphosphate and partly powdered Duchess non-reactive rock phosphate (low carbonate apatite from north-eastern Australia) was compared in three field experiments on different soil types in different climatic regions of south-western Australia. Calciphos (finely ground calcined crandallite rock phosphate from Christmas Island) was included in one experiment. The rock phosphates were incorporated into the soil and their effectiveness was compared with both topdressed and incorporated superphosphate. Different species were grown at each site (barley, triticale and subterranean clover). As determined on the basis of relative amounts of fertilizer required for constant yield, the effectiveness of all the rock phosphates relative to incorporated superphosphate was very low at each site throughout the growth of each species. Fertilizer effectiveness of rock phosphates was about one-fifth that of superphosphate for barley, and one-tenth for triticale and clover. The maximum yield obtained from rock phosphate was generally 88-100% that obtained from superphosphate. Incorporation did not greatly affect the effectiveness of superphosphate.



Soil Research ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 555 ◽  
Author(s):  
MDA Bolland ◽  
DG Allen

Different amounts of superphosphate, crandallite-millisite rock phosphate (three different samples of C-ore from Christmas Island), 500�C calcined C-ore (three different samples of Calciphos) and apatite rock phosphate (two different samples from the Duchess deposit, Queensland) were applied once only in May 1977 on lateritic soil in Western Australia. Samples of the top 10 cm of soil were collected in the summer (January-February) of 1979 and 1980 for measurement of extractable soil phosphate by the Colwell, Olsen and Bray soil tests, and the data were compared with dry matter production of subterranean clover pasture in the following spring (August). For each fertilizer in each year, the Olsen and Brayl soil test values (as dependent variables) were closely correlated with the Colwell soil test values (independent variable), and the Bray 1 soil test (dependent variable) was closely correlated with the Olsen soil test (independent variable). For the relationship between yield and soil test values, separate calibrations were required in most cases for each fertilizer and each soil test, and these calibrations showed large differences in two successive years. None of the soil tests was significantly better for predicting clover yields for the different fertilizers applied two and three years previously.



1987 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 647 ◽  
Author(s):  
MDA Bolland ◽  
MJ Baker ◽  
RJ Lunt

The initial and residual effectiveness of superphosphate, Christmas Island C-grade ore (C-ore) and 500�C heated (calcined) C-ore (Calciphos) was measured on a deep, very sandy soil near Badgingarra, W.A. Different levels of each fertiliser were applied once only in May 1980. Yields of lupins (1980 and 1983) and subterranean clover (1981) were used to determine the effectiveness of the fertilisers, and in 1986 the residual value of the fertilisers was measured for wheat, oats, and barley, relative to freshly applied superphosphate. Samples of the top 10 cm of soil were collected each January-February for soil tests for P which were compared to plant yields measured in the following spring (Aug.-Dec.). Superphosphate was the most effective fertiliser, though its effectiveness declined by about 50% between years 1 and 2, and by a further 25% between years 2 and 4. C-ore was only about one-tenth as effective as superphosphate in the year of application, and its effectiveness declined by about 40% between years 1 and 2, and by a further 15% between years 2 and 4. Calciphos was about one-fifth as effective as superphosphate in the year of application, and its effectiveness declined by about 40% between years 1 and 2, and remained approximately constant between years 2 and 4. In 1986, the effectiveness of 1980 applied superphosphate was between about one-quarter to one-fifth as effective as freshly applied superphosphate for wheat, oats and barley, and the 1980 applied C-ore and Calciphos were about 15% as effective as freshly applied superphosphate. The amount of P extracted by sodium bicarbonate from soil fertilised with superphosphate decreased by about 50% between years 2 and 3, by a further 20% between years 3 and 4, and by a further 15% between years 4 and 7. For soil treated with Calciphos, the amount of extractable P doubled between years 2 and 3 and thereafter remained approximately constant. Very little P was extracted from soil fertilised with C-ore. Separate calibration curves were required in most cases for the relationship between yield and soil test values for superphosphate and rock phosphate in 1981 and 1983, and for each fertiliser and species in 1986. A substantial amount of superphosphate-added P (50-70%) and about 20% of rock phosphate-added P had leached below 50 cm of the topsoil 6 years after application.



2007 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Brennan ◽  
M. D. A. Bolland

A long-term (17-year duration) field experiment was started on newly cleared zinc (Zn)-deficient sandy duplex soil (sand with lateritic ironstone gravel over clay) in south-western Australia that had never been fertilised to measure the residual value of Zn oxide for growing spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). When wheat was grown in the field experiment different amounts of Zn were applied once only to plots in 1983, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996, 1997, and 2000. When the field experiment was terminated, we collected soil samples from the top 0.10 m of the field plots to do a glasshouse experiment reported here. In the pot experiment 5 amounts of Zn were applied to subsamples of soil collected from each plot of the field experiment. When a yield increase (response) to the freshly applied Zn was obtained in the pot study the maximum yield plateau for the relationship between yield of 54-day-old dried wheat shoots and the amount of Zn freshly applied was similar regardless of when and how much Zn was applied in the field. The amount of Zn freshly applied to soil in the pots required to produce 90% of the maximum yield of dried wheat shoots was determined for soil previously treated with no Zn or different amounts of Zn in different years in the field to provide DM90 values. The DM90 values were largest when no Zn was applied in the field, decreased as more Zn was applied in the field and, for each amount of Zn applied in the field, increased as the number of years from application of Zn increased. For soil treated with 0.5 and 1.0 kg Zn/ha in the field the relationship between DM90 values and the number of years since Zn was applied in the field was approximately linear. The projected number of years taken for soil previously treated with Zn in the field to require the same DM90 values as soil samples collected from the nil-Zn treatments in the field was 23 and 40 years for the 0.5 and 1.0 kg Zn/ha treatments, respectively. In the pot experiment the Zn concentration in plant parts that was related to 90% of the total yield of dried wheat shoots (critical Zn concentration) was ~12 mg/kg for youngest mature growth (YMG) and 22 mg/kg for rest of shoots (ROS). The relationship between yield of dried wheat shoots and DTPA soil test Zn before sowing was similar for all the Zn treatments applied in both the field and pot studies, and the critical value was ~0.17 mg Zn/kg soil.



Soil Research ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
pp. 979 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. N. Summers ◽  
M. D. A. Bolland ◽  
M. F. Clarke

Bauxite residue (red mud) is the byproduct from treatment of crushed bauxite with caustic soda to produce alumina. When dried the residue is alkaline and has a high capacity to retain phosphorus (P). The residue is added to pastures on acidic sandy soils to increase the capacity of the soils to retain P so as to reduce leaching of P into waterways and so reduce eutrophication of the waterways. This paper examines how red mud influences the effectiveness of P from single superphosphate for producing subterranean clover (Trifolium subterraneum) dry herbage, in the year of application and in the years after application (residual value). Red mud was applied at 0, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 40 t/ha and the P was applied at 0, 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, and 160 kg P/ha. In the year of application and the year after application of red mud, dry matter yields were doubled on the soil treated with 20 t/ha of red mud compared with the untreated control. Improvements in production were initially greater in the red mud treatments than in the lime treatment (2 t lime/ha). Red mud increased the maximum yield plateau for P applied in current and previous years. When P was applied to freshly applied red mud, more P needed to be applied to produce the same yield as the amount of red mud applied increased. Red mud increased soil pH, and the increases in yield are attributed to removing low soil pH as a constraint to pasture production. This initial need for higher amounts of fertiliser P when increasing amounts of red mud were applied may be due to increased P sorption caused by increased precipitation of applied P when the fertiliser was in close contact with the freshly alkaline red mud. When P was freshly applied to red mud that had been applied to the soil 12 months ago, yield response and P content increased. This was attributed to the reduction in sorption of P due to red mud being neutralised by the soil and because sorption of P already present in the soil reduced the capacity of the red mud to sorb freshly applied fertiliser P. Residues of P in the soil and pH were also increased with application of red mud. In the years after application of red mud and lime, relative to P applied to nil red mud and nil lime treatment, the effectiveness of fertiliser P applied to the red mud and lime treatments increased. This was so as determined using plant yield, P concentration in plant tissue, and soil P test.



1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
MDA Bolland ◽  
AJ Weatherley ◽  
RJ Gilkes

The residual values of granular reactive rock phosphate (highly carbonate-substituted apatite from North Carolina, USA.), partially powdered low-reactive Queensland rock phosphate (low carbonate-substituted apatite from the Duchess deposit), and granular triple superphosphate were measured in 3 experiments on different lateritic soils in different climatic regions of south-western Australia (Gibson, South Bodallin, West Dale). Finely powdered calcined crandallite-millisite rock phosphate from Christmas Island (Calciphos) was included in one of the experiments. The fertilisers were applied once only in May 1984 and their residual value measured over 3 years (1984-1986) using yield and phosphorus content of the following species each year: experiment 1 (Gibson), barley in years 1 and 2 and oats in the third year; experiment 2 (South Bodallin), triticale in all 3 years; experiment 3 (West Dale), subterranean clover in years I and 2 followed by oats in year 3. Relative to triple superphosphate (TSP) applied each year, the effectiveness of superphosphate in year 1 (year of application) in the experiment at Gibson decreased by about 40% between years 1 and 2, and by a further 5% between years 2 and 3. The corresponding values for the experiment at South Bodallin were 75% and 5%, and at West Dale 50% and 25%. All rock phosphates were much less effective than TSP in year 1, being 5-30% as effective as TSP. Effectiveness of rock phosphates remained low over the 3 years, being 5-20% as effective as newly applied TSP. Although the effectiveness of TSP decreased, it continued to be 50% as effective as newly applied TSP after 3 years. Residual TSP and both freshly applied and residual rock phosphates did not support the same maximum yield as freshly applied TSP despite well defined yield plateaux being obtained in each case. At each harvest, the relationship between yield and phosphorus content of plants was similar for all fertilisers so that the smaller maximum DM and grain yield and reduced effectiveness of the rock phosphates were largely due to less phosphorus being taken up by plants.



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