Agronomy (Jul 2024)

Plant and Soil Effects of Alternative Sources of Phosphorus over Three Years of Application

  • Anna Karpinska,
  • Thomais Kakouli-Duarte,
  • S.M. Ashekuzzaman,
  • John Byrne,
  • Achim Schmalenberger,
  • Patrick J. Forrestal

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy14071591
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 7
p. 1591

Abstract

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Plant growth and food security depend heavily on phosphorus (P). Recovering and recycling P from animal, municipal, and food waste streams can significantly reduce dependency on traditional mineral P. This is particularly pertinent in the EU regions with limited native P supplies. The agronomic performance of including P-based recycling-derived fertilisers (two struvite and two ashes) or cattle slurry was compared to a conventional mineral P fertilisation programme along with no P and no fertiliser controls over three years. A field-scale experiment was set up to evaluate the perennial ryegrass dry matter yield (DMY), P uptake, and soil test P effects. Struvite, ash, and cattle slurry proved effective in replacing P mineral fertiliser and produced yields similar to those of the mineral fertiliser programme. Differences were observed in plant P recovery, with struvite-based programmes achieving a significantly higher P recovery than ash-based programmes, which had the lowest plant P recovery. Differences in Morgan’s soil test P were also noted, with potato waste struvite (PWS) and poultry litter ash (PLA) showing significantly higher soil test P values. The findings strongly indicate that a range of recycled bio-based fertilisers from the bioeconomy can be used to reduce reliance on conventional imported mineral P fertiliser, with some programmes based on recycled fertilisers even surpassing the performance of conventional linear economy mineral fertilisers.

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