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Title: Phosphorus in China's intensive vegetable production systems: over-fertilization,soil enrichment, and enviromental implications

Author
item YAN, ZHENGJUAN - China Agricultural University
item LIU, PENGPENG - China Agricultural University
item LI, YUHONG - China Agricultural University
item MA, LIN - China Agricultural University
item DOU, ZHENGXIA - China Agricultural University
item CHEN, QING - China Agricultural University
item ZHANG, FUSUO - China Agricultural University
item Alva, Ashok

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Quality
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/4/2013
Publication Date: 6/24/2014
Citation: Yan, Z., Liu, P., Li, Y., Ma, L., Dou, Z., Chen, Q., Zhang, F., Alva, A.K. 2014. Phosphorus in China's intensive vegetable production systems: over-fertilization,soil enrichment, and enviromental implications. Journal of Environmental Quality. 42(4):982-989.

Interpretive Summary: Vegetable production in China (523 million tons) accounts for >50% of the total world production. Much of this increase was in intensive plastic greenhouse production with very high inputs per unit area. In addition to high rates of fertilizers, an excessive rate of animal manure is used, resulting in high nutrient leading in relation to nutrient removal in harvested produce. This has resulted in excessive rates of P application, i.e. 571 kg P/ha, lead to P accumulation in the soil as evident from a mean Olsen-P level of 179 kg P/ha in the top 20 cm depth soil. This represents almost 3- fold greater than the critical Olsen-P level for optimum vegetable yield. A critical evaluation of the current status of P management for greenhouse vegetable production was conducted to develop strategies to minimize P accumulation in the greenhouse soils and related environmental problems.

Technical Abstract: China’s vegetable production has experienced a rapid growth in recent years. Total production amounted to 522.7 million Mg in 2009, which was more than nine times that in 1980 and represented >50% of the world production.Meanwhile, excessive use of animal manure and chemical fertilizers in vegetable fields has brought various production and environmental challenges, including excessive accumulation of nutrients in soils and accelerated water pollution problems. In this paper, we have evaluated the current status of phosphorus (P) in China’s intensive vegetable production systems based on data summarized from nearly 100 publications plus results from our recent experiments. Gross over-fertilization occurred in both greenhouse (571 kg P/ha) and open field (117 kg P/ha) vegetable systems, compared to P removal in harvested crops (44 and 25 kg P/ha) per season. Excess P input led to soil enrichment of labile P, measured as Olsen/P, averaging 179 (greenhouses) and 100 mg P/kg (open fields) in the 0-20 cm soil layer. There were also increases in Olsen-P and CaCl2-P in the 40-60 cm soil layer. The vast majority of vegetable soils had Olsen-P exceeding the critical level (46.0 to 58.0 mg P/kg) for optimum vegetable yield.It is imperative to develop innovative policies and mechanisms that encourage science-based nutrient management practices to attain sustainable vegetable production as well as natural and environmental resource conservation.