BUILDUP IN SOIL AVAILABLE-P AND YIELD RESPONSE OF SPRING WHEAT TO SEED-PLACED-P IN A 24-YEAR STUDY IN THE BROWN SOIL ZONE

Producers in western Canada have applied phosphorus (P) fertilizer to annual crops for many years. This has increased soil available P and gradually decreased the expected yield response to P fertilization, but yield responses to small amounts of P placed with the seed are still reported regardless of soil available P levels. Controlled growth chamber studies suggest that the P responses should be most apparent during cool, wet springs. This 24-yr field study compared the yields of two fallow-spring wheat-spring wheat (F-W-W) systems, one fertilized with N and P each crop year, and the other fertilized with only N. The study, which was part of a long-term crop rotation experiment, was conducted on an Orthic Brown Chernozemic loam at Swift Current, Saskatchewan. Bicarbonate-extractable P (Olsen P) in the 0- to 15-cm depth in spring of the treatment receiving no P remained relatively constant (about 19 kg ha-1) throughout the study, while P fertilizer application at 6.5 kg ha-1 yr-1 increased extractable soil P by about 0.9 kg ha-1 yr-1. However, this increase in available P has not reduced yield responses to seed-placed P over the years. Regression analysis showed that yield response to P on fallow soil was positively related to temperature between emergence and the three-leaf stage and to precipitation at dough stage, but negatively related to precipitation near seeding time. For wheat grown on stubble, response to P was negatively related to temperature between 10 and 16 June (i.e., about the three- to four-leaf stage) and positively to precipitation received at anthesis stage. We concluded that, although available P in prairie soils has probably increased in recent years, producers can still expect to receive a 10% yield increase when small amounts of P are applied with the seed.