Evaluating the Effectiveness of Phosphate Fertilizers in some Venezuelan soils

In Venezuela, 70% of the soils are acid with low natural fertility where phosphorus is the most limiting element together with nitrogen and potassium for plant growth. The efficiency of phosphate fertilization is low. Greenhouse and field experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of natural and modified rock phosphate using conventional and isotopic techniques. An incubation experiment was done to measure changes in available P on application of different phosphate fertilizers at a constant rate of 100 mg P/kg in ten acid soils of agricultural importance in Venezuela. In the greenhouse, two experiments were conducted to relate P fixation to soil P availability and the response of an index plant (Agrostis sp.). A high variability in P fixing capacity of the soils (r1/Ro = 0.02-0.76) was observed with the same level of available P. This fixation index is defined as the proportion of the added radioactivity (P-32) remaining in the soil solution after 1 min of exchange and a low fixing capacity is indicated by the values close to 1. The proportion of the total soil P that can possibly enter the soil solution and therefore is potentially available for plant uptake was measured using the traditional method (Bray I) and the isotopic method (E value). The high variability was also apparent in available P extracted by Bray I showing a range of 10 to 88% of the total P removed by the extracting solution. The incubation studies showed that the effectiveness of the P source for available P in the soil solution was related to their reactivity and the soil P fixing properties. The increase in the fixing capacity of the soils used caused a significant reduction in the E value, independent of the source of P used. A high positive and significant correlation between Bray I extracted P and the E value (r = 0.95) obtained from the different treatments, showed the relationship of the extractant for some forms of available P in soils where rock phosphate was applied. In the greenhouse experiment, the crop response was related to the P fixing properties of the soil, the initial availability and the solubility of the P source used. The P in plant derived from the fertilizer and the Utilization Coefficient decreased significantly as the P fixing capacity of the soils increases indicating a lower availability of P for the the index plant (Agrostis sp.). The P in plant derived from the P fertilizers calculated by using the specific activity of each treatment and the one of the check plot showed that triple superphosphate had the highest values with acidulated Riecito rock phosphate (40%) having intermediate values, and Riecito rock phosphate having the lowest value. The use of P-32 techniques as a powerful method to study soil P dynamics and P uptake from different P sources and the effectiveness of phosphate rocks (natural and modified) produced in Venezuela with respect to the water-soluble P source (imported), are some of the practical implications of this study.