Phosphorus fractions in soil with a long history of organic waste and mineral fertilizer addition

Abstract

Applications for long periods of organic animal waste as a source of nutrients to crops can contaminate the soil and the surface and subsurface waters. This study aimed to evaluate how the utilization of organic waste, after successive applications, affects P fractions in the soil and consequently environmental contamination. In an experiment conducted for 8 years, totaling 12 applications with pig slurry manure (PSM), liquid cattle manure (LCM), swine deep bedding (SDB), and mineral fertilizer (NPK), 460; 505; 1.111; and 535 kg P∙ha−1 were added to the soil through PSM, LCM, SDB, and NPK, respectively. In September 2012, soil samples were collected in the layers 0.0 – 0.04; 0.04 – 0.08; 0.08 – 0.12; 0.12 – 0.16; 0.16 – 0.20 m, prepared and subjected to a sequential chemical fractionation of P. The 12 applications of pig slurry, liquid cattle manure, swine deep bedding and NPK fertilizer for eight years (urea + triple superphosphate + potassium chloride) provided accumulations of P fractions in the soil that were above the necessary for a proper nutrition to plants considering the available P fractions (AER + organic NaHCO3 + inorganic NaHCO3) in the soil. In addition, they showed that the use of swine deep bedding, followed by pig slurry, means higher levels of available P fractions in the soil. In this sense, the establishment of a dosage of organic waste to meet the nitrogen need of crops is not an environmentally appropriate parameter. It may cause P accumulation in the soil, increased absorption ability of plants and soil support, contributing to environmental contamination.