THE PHOSPHORUS REQUIREMENT OF DIFFERENT CROP SPECIES COMPARED WITH WHEAT ON LATERITIC SOILS

The phosphorus (P) requirement for grain production of different crop species (oats (Avena sativa), barley (Hordeum vulgare), triticale (x Triticosecale), narrow-leafed lupins (Lupinus angustifolius), and sandplain lupins (L. cosentinii) was compared with wheat (Triticum aestivum) in five field experiments on different lateritic soils in south-western Australia. Seven or eight levels of superphosphate were applied at the start of each experiment. The amount of P required to produce 70% (four experiments) or 90% (one experiment) of the maximum yield was used to compare P requirements. Large differences in the P requirements of the species were obtained. On P deficient soil in 3 experiments, oats required from 50 to 70% less P than wheat, but required 40% more P on a soil with a long history of superphosphate applications. Compared with wheat, in the year of P application, barley required 50% less P in one experiment, had similar P requirements in two experiments, and required 80% more P in another experiment. In the years after P application, barley required 20% less P in two experiments. On an acidic soil triticale required from 50% to 70% less P than wheat, but on less acidic soil it required 100% more P. In the year of P application, narrow-leafed lupins required 800% more P than wheat in one experiment, and 30% more P in the other experiment. In the year of P application, sandplain lupins required 70% less P than wheat in one experiment.