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Title: COMPARISON OF PHOSPHORUS UPTAKE FROM POULTRY LITTER COMPOST AND TRIPLE SUPER PHOSPHATE IN CODORUS SOIL

Author
item Sikora, Lawrence
item Enkiri, Nancy

Submitted to: Agronomy Journal
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2004
Publication Date: 4/27/2005
Citation: Sikora, L.J., Enkiri, N.K. 2005. Comparison of phosphorus uptake from poultry litter compost and triple super phosphate in codorus soil. Agronomy Journal. 97:668-673.

Interpretive Summary: Animal manure management can have significant impact on both ground and surface water quality. Recently, the levels of P in agricultural soils have been the focus of research because inputs into agricultural systems are out of balance with outputs. The growth of animal industries and siting of production units on small acreages create regional nutrient input versus output concerns in the US and in Europe. The poultry industry is an example of an animal business that has concentrated operations on land too small to apply all the manure generated during production. When using manures or composts, the amount of fertilizer in the material must be known so that the application does not exceed what the crop can take up. Research has explored the N fertilizer equivalents of compost, but not much is known about the phosphorus fertility. A study was conducted comparing poultry litter compost to triple super phosphate. Yields of fescue was different for poultry litter compost and triple super phosphate, but the plant uptake of phosphorus from both sources was the same. These results confirm data from a previous study conducted in a different soil and leads to the conclusion that compost phosphorus is equal to commercial phosphorus fertilizer. Farmers can now apply composts to land with a certainty that they know how much fertilizer phosphorus they are adding.

Technical Abstract: Nutrient management plans require that fertilizer equivalents of manures and composts be used in determining the total nutrient application to soils. In the past, composts were not considered fertilizers but only sources of organic matter. The P nutrient content of composts has not been studied as extensively as N, but with recent emphasis on P enrichment of waterways, more extensive studies are required for both manures and composts. A Codorus soil with less than 10 mg kg-1 Mehlich-3 extractable P was amended with poultry litter compost (PLC) or triple super phosphate (TSP) at rates of 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg P ha-1. Nitrogen was supplied to be uniform across all treatments taking into account the N mineralization rate of PLC. Fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb) was grown and harvested three times over 103 days. Yield of fescue was curvilinear related to rate of amendment, but yield was not affected by treatment source, poultry litter compost or triple super phosphate. Models describing yield changes with rate were different for TSP and PLC as yields increased more rapidly for TSP than PLC at low P additions, but decreased more rapidly than PLC had higher P rates. Phosphorus uptake was statistically the same for both treatments and a single quadractic equation describing P uptake with rate. These data indicate that PLC added to soils on a total P basis provided the same amount of fertilizer equivalents as TSP. Thus, if PLC is applied to soils at the N fertilizer rate for a crop, an excess of P fertilizer would result.