Bangladesh J. Soil Sci.

3l('l-2):21-27,2005

INFLUENCE OF WHEAT GROWTH ON THE TRANSFORMATION OF INORGANIC PHOSPHORUS IN DHAMRAI SOIL

M.S. Aminl and S. Hoque2

ABSTRACT A pot experiment was conducted in Dhamrai soil series (Typic Haptaquepts) to study the ffict of wheat growth on inorganic phosphorus (P) transformation. The wheat plant population were zero (control), normal (3 plants/pot) and double (6 plants/pot). The soit samples were collected at 2l and 42 days afier germination. Two levels of P as fertilizer were applied. Soluble and loosely bound phosphate (ES-P)' aluminium phosphate (Al-P), iron phosphate (Fe-P), reductant soluble phosphate (RS-p) and
calcium phosphate (Ca-P) fractions were determined. Increased plant population signfficantly increased the dissolution and transformation of relatively nonlabile form of P (RS-P and Ca-p) that helped the

.1.

utilization of P from dffirent fractions of inorganic P. The avaitability of P from dffirent p-fracrions to
wheat plants was also evident from the experiment.

INTRODUCTION Soil phosphorus is an increasingly important consideration in the development of p-based nutrient management strategies (Daniels et al.
2000). The dynamics of phosphorus transformation

nonlabile P to simulate soil P sorption. When labile P decreases due to plant uptake, P is transferred from the non-labile to the labile P pool to simulate

soil P buffering (Javid and Rowell 2002).

The

its fixation and release characteristics have been the subject of numerous investigations but in actual practice the most
system and
pertinent issue is to know how much ofphosphorus can be made available to the growing crop from the

in the soil

inorganic phosphates in soils have been classificd into easily soluble phosphate (ES-p), aluminium

phosphates

phosphates (Fe-p), reductant soluble phosphates (RS-P) and calcium phosphates (Ca-P) (Chang and Jackson 195?).
Though the plants absorb P from the labile pool only, the relative solubility of the inorganic p fractions governs the replenishment of the labile pool when it is depleted by removal of p by the plant (Sharma and Triparhi 1984), Fractions of
inorganic P in soils are the immediate sources for supplying P for crop utilization. Soil p

(Al-P), iron

native soil pool (Ghosh and Hasan l97g).

Knowledge on the transformation of applied phosphorus into specific inorganic forms is important, as the fertilizer reaction product is the source of P from soil (Rokima and Prasad, l99l),

Labile P represents easily desorbable

p immediately available for plant uptake or transfer to runoff and is defined as P extracted by anion exchange resin (Sharpley et al. 1984). Any

fractionation studies

in

laboratory under aerobic

conditions have revealed that a major portion of the applied phosphorus retained in Fe-P and Ca-p

inorganic

added

to soil becomes labile

at to

application

but may be quickly transferred

fractions but transformation of applied P is likely to be greatly altered in the presence of actively

'Soil Science Discipline, Khulna University, Khulna, Bangladesh 'Depanment of soil, water and Environment, University of Dhaka, Dhaka-l 000, Bangladesh

22

Amin and Hoque whenever needed. The experimental design was completely randomized factorial with 2 levels of p and 3 levels of plant density with 3 replications per

growing plant roots, which give out acidic exudates (Jain and Sarkar 1979). Phosphorus uprake and dry

wheat crop were positively related to loosely bound-P. The transformation of added fertilizer P is mainly governed by the properties of the soils. With the passage of time, certain inorganic P fractions are transformed into other discrete forms as influenced by the soil properties
(Hsu and Jackson 1960). The present study was designed to investigate the effect of plant population of wheat crop on the

matter

of

treatment.

The

treatment combinations

.lre

presented in Table

l.

Table 1. Treatment combinations

RrWo PoW"
PoWo PrsW"

Without Without Without

P Fertilizer, Zero Plant population P Fertilizer,

P Fertilizer, Double

Normal plant population plant population

P:sWo With P Fertilizer,

Zero Plant population

With P Fertilizer, Normal Plant population

utilization

of soil

phosphorus

from

different

PzsWu With P Fertilizer, Double Plant population

inorganic fractions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS A pot experiment with wheat (Triticurn aestivum L.) was carried out during rabi season

Soil samples were collected from the pot at 2l days and 42 days after the germination of wheat seeds. Plants were harvested after 42 days of seed germination. Shoots were dricd at 650C for 4gh in
oven and dry weights were recorded, Finally, the dried samples were ground and were preserved in plastic bags.

in rhe ner house of rhe Department of Soil, Water and Environment, University of Dhaka. Dhamrai soil series (Typic
Haplaquepts) of non-calcareous origin was used for

(04/12/2001-23/01/2002)

The fractionation of soil inorganic

was

the pot experiment. The soil was silty clay in

texture (l.46Vo sand,44.217o silr and 54.33Vo clay) having pH 6.28, water content at 0.33 bar 40.33Vo, 1.887o organic matter and O.07Vo total P. One kilogram of air-dried soil was taken in three liter plastic pot. A basal dose of N and K at the rate of 85 and 35 kg hat was applied as urea and muriare of potash (MP), respectively. Two levels of p from

carried out by foltowing rhe procedure (Fig. l) as suggested by Chang and Jackson (1957) with modification as cired by Kuo (1996). The inorganic

associated

with different fracrions

was

determined by ascorbic acid blue colour method of

Murphy and Riley (f962). Textural class wa= determined by hydrometer method, moisture
content by pressure plate method, pH by pH meter using soil : water ratio of I :2.5, organic matter by

triple super phosphate (TSP) as fertilizer were applied at the rate of 0 and 25 kg p ha-r, respectively. Wheat seeds (HyV Kanchan) were
sown in each pot. The plant population maintained after J days of germination were zero (control),

Walkley and Black's wet oxidation method. Soil

sample was digested with HNO3-HCIOa mixture

for the determination for total p

described

determination. Plants were digested with H2SO4-HCIOa mixture as

normal

(3 plants/pot) and double (6

plants/pot).

by

Cresser and parsons (1979) to

Soils were kept at field capacity at the time of seed sowing. Pots were watered regularly to keep the

determine total P. Total P of soil and plant samples was determined by vanadomolybdate yellow colour method (Jackson 1973).

moisture

at

approximately field capacity level

Influence of wheat growth on the transformation

23

Statistical analyses were performed by using

PROC GLM (SAS Institute, 1989).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Straw yield and p uptake: The dry weights of vegetative portions of wheat plants are presented in Table 2. The highest and lowest dry matter were

respectively. The data indicated that plant population and P fertilization significantly affected the dry matter yield of wheat. Statistical analysis

obtained

with Pz:Wn and poWo treatment,

showed that fertilizer, seed rate and seed ratexfertilizer interaction significantly (p < 0.001) affected the dry matter yield of wheat plant. Similar findings were also observed with the
investigation of Khaled (1993).

0.5 gm soil in 50 ml centrifuge tubes, add 25 ml supematant.

lM

NH4CI, shake 30 min, centrifuge, collect

ES.P

Add 25 ml 0'5M NH4F (pH s.2) to the residue, shake r h, centrifuge, coilecr supernatanr, wash twice with 12.5 ml saturated NaCI and combine the washings to the extract. Al_p

of0.lM NaoH to the soir residue and shake for r7 h. centrifuge and decant the supematant. Wash the soil twice with 12.5 ml NaCI and combine with extract. Fe-p
Add 25 ml

Add 20 ml of 0,3 M sodium citrate and 2.5 ml of r M NaHCor to the residue and heat in a water bath at 850c. Add r g of Na2S2oa and stir rapidly. conrinue to heat for 15 min and centrifuge. Decant the supernatant. wash the soir twice with 12.5 mr saturared

combine the washings with the extract. Expose the extract to air to oxidize

NaCr and centrifuge.

Na:Szo,r.

RS-P

Add 25 ml of 0'25 M HuSor to the soil residue and shake for I h. Centrifuge the suspension for l0 min and decant the supematant. wash the soil twice with r2.5 ml saturated
centrifuge. Combine the washings with the

extract.

NaCI, and
Ca-p

. t9t" by

of inorganic P fractionation procedure for modifiecl Chang and Jackson ( 1957) method, as cited Kuo (1996).

:!T

24

Amin and Hoque

PsWn treatment as compared with PsWe at 42 days.

The uptake of P calculated as pg plant-r, from dry weight of wheat straw is presented in Table 2. The highest P uptake was 347.95 pg plantr obtained with P25Wn treatment. The values were statistically significant (P < 0.001).

Effect of plant population and fertilizer application on the transformation of P into dffirent forms: The inorganic P fractions as affected by different treatments after 2l and 42 days are presented in Table 3. The fractions were in the order of Ca-P>AI-P>Fe-P>RS-P>ES-P at 2l
days with PsWs treatment. The ES-P, Al-P and Ca-

The different P fractions decreased significantly except Al-P with PqW6 at 42 days compared with PsW6 and PoW". The fractions of P with P25We treatment were in the order of Ca-P>Fe-P>AlP>RS-P>ES-P at 42 days. The ES-P and Fe-P content significantly decreased but Al-P increased significantly with P25W" compared with P25W6. At 42 days of growth, rapid transformations were
observed with ES-P, Al-P, Fe-P and RS-P with
P25Wn treatment compared
P25Wa

to

P0W0 treatment.

Reductant soluble-P and Ca-P both

in

PsW6 and

decreased significantly and Fe-P and RS-P

treatments decreased rapidly which might be

increased significantly

with PoW". With

PgW"

treatment the order of the P fractions was Ca-P>Fe-

due to the crop uptake of other relatively easily soluble fractions and transformation of RS-P to

P>AI-P>RS-P>ES-P. With PgWd trearmenr ES-P,

those fractions.

Al-P, RS-P and Ca-P decreased significantly but

Fe-P increased as compared with PeW6 at 21 days.

With PoWd treatment the order was Fe-P>Ca-P>AlP>RS-P>ES-P. The different P fractions were decreased except Al-P with PoWo treatment
compared

can be concluded from the of inorganic P (RS-P and Ca-P) from native soil P pool significantly contributed to the wheat growth at
investigation that non-labile forms
increased plant population. Exhaustive uptake of p

It

from easily available source may

Fe-P, Al-P and ES-P fractions.

favourably

with PqWn treatment at 2l days. The decrease of the fractions might be due to the crop
utilization of the ES-P and replenishment of that
fraction by other fractions.
Table 2. Dry matter yield and P uptake as affected by ptant population and fertilizer application
I

influence the transformation of RS-P and Ca-P to

Correlations between different P fractions: Inorganic P fractions after 2l and 42 days of

germination were correlated with each other and the relationships are presented in Table 4. A

. rextment

Dry matter

' (g

yield i Planf')
0.63
0.5 r

Phosphorus uptake

(Us Plant'r) 270.54 254.36 347.95 280.45

significant positive correlations were observed among ES-P, Fe-P, RS-P at 21 days. At 42 days
significant correlation was observed among ES-P and RS-P. Negative correlation was found among ES-P,'Al-P and Ca-P at 2l days whereas at 42 days
negative correlation was found between ES-P and
Fe-P.

PoW"
PoW,r PzsWn

0.88 0.60

P:sWa

The fractions of P with PeWs treatment were in the order of Ca-P>Fe-P>AI-P>RS-P>ES-P at 42

days. The ES-P and Ca-P content significantly decreased but RS-P increased significantly with

Rokima and Prasad (1991) observed high degree of relationship between different p fractions. They also stated that the significant interrelations of different P fractions suggest that

Influence of wheat growth on the transformation

25

each

of

these forms influenced directly or

Ca-P at

42

indirectly by one another and might be equally important for availability and p nutrition of crops.
Zhang (1991) reported that there was no fraction that had no relation to other p fractions in soils and
they always affect one another.

days. Significant correlations

of

uptake with different fractions suggested that those

were the main fractions meeting the p requirement of wheat crop. Khaled (1993) found thar ES-p, Al-

P and Fe-P significantly correlared with p uptake by wheat at 60 days after germination. Cox et al.

Relationships befween different fractions of inorganic P and their uptake by wheat: The correlation coefficients between p uptake and various fractions of the soil p are presented in Table 5. Phosphorus uptake by wheat was positively correlated with ES-p, RS_p and Ca_p and negatively with Al-p and Fe-p. Correlation study suggested that the contribution of p fractions
to the uptake was more pronounced with ES-p and
Table 3. Inorganic P fractions as affected by plant
ES-P Treatment

(1997) found that phosphorus uprake and dry of wheat crop were positively related to loosely bound-P. Rokima and prasad (1991) reported the Ca-P, Al-P, ES-p significantly
matter
correlated with P uptake by wheat. Jain and Sarkar (1979) also observed that in calcareous soils ES-p and Al-P had positive correlation with p uptake by wheat. Singh er al. (1979) found that rhe p uptake

of2l

and 42 days.
Fe-P
,ro o'l

AI.P
42d

RS-P

Ca-P

PoW<r

PoWn PoWo
PusWo

P:tWn
PusWu

7.92a 4.61b I'l4c 4.34b l.7lc

42d 2ld 42t 2ld 42d ztd 42d 4.38b 140.00a 76.67b t 1.6'tc llr.00b 76.25b 157.50a 155.63a 36.66a 47.21b r62.75c r42.50c l.l5c ll6.25b 88.13a r35.63b r42.50b 26.5ic 27.43d r23.i5d 133:t5c 5.42a r3r.Zsa 66.33c r 37.50b 166.25a 35.r2a 55.r2a 309.50a 320.00a 2.08b 138.75a 72.17b l3z.50b r4z.50b 2l.o4c 0.83d l-25c r40.00a 7s.6ib r23.7sc r64.r7a 2o.47d 51.06a 307.83a 338.75a r9.48c z6z.5ob 252.50b
21d

. 21d

Means having the same lener (S) in a column are statistically similar by DMRT at 5% levelof significance.

Table 4. Correlation coeflicient (r) for relationship between forms of P after 2l days after seed germination AI.P
ES-P Fe-P

calcareous soils. Reviewing the information from

RS-P

Ca-P

-0.653 0.347

0.958

o.942
0.058 -0.733 o.267 0.998 0.002

-0.3r6
0.684

o.M2
-0.755

Indian literature Tandon (1999) reported the contribution of RS-P to phosphorus nutrition of pearl millet, finger millet, black gram, and
sunflower in red soils and that of coffee in laterite soil. Yang and Jacobsen (1990) reporred that the

AI-P
Fe-P

0.9t4
0.086 -o.425 0.575 -0.395 0.605

o.245

more soluble fractions can be

was observed between
was

correlated

RS-P

significantly with P uptake but poor correlation

uptake and RS-p. From

by wheat at

field

moisture capacity

significantly correlated with ES-P and Ca-P in

the findings of the present experiment it can be said that contribution of different fractions to the uptake

of P by wheat varied with duration of crop growth

26

Amin and Hoque

and plant population may also have effects on

thq

population had significant influence

utilization of P from different fractions of soil P. transformation of relatively nonlabile forms of p Under higher plant population, Ca-P and RS-P (RS-P and Ca-P) and their uptake by plants.

on

the

were changed appreciably. Increased

plant

Table 5. Correlation coeflicient (r) for relationships between Dry matter, P uptake by wheat and forms of P after 42 days after seed germination

Dry

Matter

! uptake 0.982 0.018

P uptake ES-P

ES-P 0.942 0.058 0.863 0.137

Al-P -0.788 0.212 -0.747 0.253 -0;146 0.254

AI-P
Fe-P RS-P

Fe-P -0.087 0.913 -0.090 0.910 -0.146 0.854 -0.531 0.469

RS-p 0|-25 0.275 0.594 0.406 0.909 0.091 -0.487 0.513 -0.338 0.662

Ca-p 0.849
0.151

0.924
0.076

0.6n
0.373
_0.740

0.260
-0.146 0.854

o.252
o;748

Cell Contents: Pearson correlation P-Value.

REFERENCES
Chang, S.C. and M.L. Jackson. 195?. Fractionation phosphorus' Soil Sci' 84:133-lM' Javid, S. and D.L. Rowell. 2002. A laboratory study of the effect of time and temperarure on the decline in olsen p Cox, A.8., J.J. Camberato and B.R. Smith. 1997. Phosphate following phosphate addition ro calcareous soils. Soil Use availability and inorganic transformation in an alum Manag. lE: 121-134.

of soil

sludge-affectedsoil.J.Env.Qual.26(5):1393-1398.
Cresser. M.S. and J.W. Parsons. 1979. Sulphuric perchloric

Khaled,

A. N. M. 1993. Inorganic

phosphate availability and

uptake by wheat. M. Sc. Thesis. Department of Soil acid digestion of plant material for the determination of N, P, Science, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. K, Ca and Mg. Anal. Chim. Acta. 109: 431-436. Kuo, S. 1996. phosphorus. /n: J.M. Bigham (ed.) Methods of Daniels, M.8., P. Delaune, P.A. Moore, A. Mauromoustakos, Soil Analysis. Part 3. Chemical Methods SSSA, Book S.L. Chapman and J.M. Langston. 2001. Soil phosphorus Series No. 5. Madison, WI. pp. 869-919. variabilityinpastures.J.Env.Qual.30:2157-2165. Murphy, J. and J.p. Riley. 1962. A modified single solution Ghosh, A.B. and R. Hasan. 1979. Phosphorus fertility status of method for the determination of phosphate in natural the soils of India. Bull. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 12: I -8. water. Anal. Chim. Acta. 27: it-36. Hsu, P.H. and M.L. Jackson. 1960. Inorganic phosphate Rokima, J. and B. Prasad. 1991. lntegrated nurienr manage transformations by chemical weathering in soils as ment: IL Transformation of applied P into inorganic p influencedbypH.SoilSci.g0: 16-24. fractions in relation to its availability and uptake in calcareous soil. J. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci.39(4):703-710. Jackson, M.L. l9?3. Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice Hall of Ind. Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi. SAS Institute. 1989. SAS/STAT guide for personal computer. Release 6'12 SAS Inst. Cary, NC. Jain, J.M. and M.C. Sarkar. 1979. Transformation of inorganic phosphonrs under field conditions and its effect on P Sharma, P.K. and B.R- Tripathi- 1984. Phosphorus availability uptake and grain yield of wheat. Bull. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. indices in relation to phosphorus fractions in some 12:460-464. Himalayan acid soils of North- West lndia. J. lnd. Soc.
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A'N., c.A. Jones, C. Gray and C.v. Cole. 1984. A Yang, J.E. and J.S. Jacobsen. 1990. Soil inorganic phosphorus simplified soil and plant phosphorus model: II. Prediction fractions and their relationships to calcareous soils. soil of labile, organic, and sorbed phosphorus. Soil Sci. soc. Sci. soc. Am. J.54: 1666-1669. Anr' J' 48: 805-809Zhang, w. 1991. Path analysis and relative availability of Singh, B , D R' Bhumbla and N.S. Randhawa. 1979. Relative inorganic and organic p fractions in soils. Acta. pedol. contribution of different fractions of soil phosphorus to sin.2g(4): 417-425. plant phosphorus. Bull. Ind. Soc. Soil Sci. 12: 3g5-3g9.
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(Published in December 2007)