The concentrations of Zn and Cd in soil and corn plants affected by phosphorus fertilization in a long-term field experiment

Abstract

Intensive application of nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers can lead to negative consequences, such as a decrease in Zn content, as well as an increase of Cd in plants. In a long-term field experiment, we studied the influence of the increasing doses of phosphorus fertilizers on the concentration of Zn and Cd in the soil and corn plants (stem and leaves). The obtained results show that the application of the increasing doses of phosphorus significantly decreased the pH reaction of the soil, but did not affect the amount of total and potentially available Zn in the soil. Zinc was accumulated in the corn stem to a higher extent on the unfertilized treatment with respect to corn stem exposed to other fertilizing treatments. Bearing in mind the fact that phosphorus fertilizers contain a different concentration of Cd, results have shown that the long-term application of the increasing doses of phosphorus has led to higher amounts of Cd in the soil and in corn as well, in the plots fertilized with 100 and 150 kg P2O5/ha. However, those values are far below the maximum permissible recommendation.