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Article
2025
Effect of phosphorus fertilizer placement depth, amount, and soil water content on early maize growth
Effect of phosphorus fertilizer placement depth, amount, and soil water content on early maize growth
Abstract (English)
Background: Drought stress (DS) reduces soil phosphorus (P) availability by limiting P diffusion and uptake, while global P resource scarcity exacerbates nutrient limitations for crops.
Aim: This study investigated whether deep subsurface P placement could alleviate the combined effects of P deficiency and DS on maize growth.
Methods: A greenhouse trial with maize (cv. Ricardinio) was conducted involving three factors: three P fertilizer amounts (0 mg P pot −1 [NP], 109 mg P pot −1 [LP], and 655 mg P pot −1 [HP]), three placement depths (0–9 cm [U, upper layer], 9–18 cm [L, lower layer], and uniformly mixed throughout 0–18 cm [M]), and two soil water contents (45% of soil water holding capacity [WHC] [DS] and 75% WHC [WW]). Root and shoot traits were assessed at the fourth‐ and tenth‐leaf stages.
Results: LP significantly reduced shoot biomass and P content compared to HP treatment. At the fourth‐leaf stage, DS increased root biomass by 69.3% and 27.1% in the 9–18 cm and 0–18 cm layers compared to WW treatment. At the tenth‐leaf stage, DS reduced root biomass by at least 41% across layers and decreased shoot growth and P uptake. Under DS, L‐DS increased root growth and root length in the 9–18 cm layer compared to M‐DS and U‐DS treatments but did not improve shoot traits.
Conclusion: Deep subsurface P placement promoted deeper root development under drought and P deficiency. However, its benefits on shoot growth were not evident in early stages, indicating the need for longer term field validation.
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Journal of plant nutrition and soil science, 188 (2025), 6, 992-1001.
https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.70014.
ISSN: 1522-2624
ISSN: 1436-8730
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Ning, F., Nkebiwe, P. M., Munz, S., Hartung, J., Zhang, P., Huang, S., & Graeff‐Hönninger, S. (2025). Effect of phosphorus fertilizer placement depth, amount, and soil water content on early maize growth. Journal of plant nutrition and soil science, 188(6). https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.70014
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English
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630 Agriculture
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Sustainable Development Goals
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@article{Ning2025,
doi = {10.1002/jpln.70014},
author = {Ning, Fangfang and Nkebiwe, Peteh Mehdi and Munz, Sebastian et al.},
title = {Effect of phosphorus fertilizer placement depth, amount, and soil water content on early maize growth},
journal = {Journal of plant nutrition and soil science},
year = {2025},
volume = {188},
number = {6},
pages = {992--1001},
}