Assessment of soil phosphorus availability to corn

Abstract

In order to evaluate soil phosphorus availability to plants, the extraction methods: Mehlich-1, exchange resins in beads (RE), encapsulated (RC) and as membrane (RM) and iron oxide impregnated filter papers with 75% field capacity (D1) and waterlogged conditions (D2) were studied in Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, in 1994, in a greenhouse experiment with six soils fertilized with four phosphate rates and cultivated with corn (Zea mays L.) for 28 days. Determination coefficients between plant absorbed phosphorus and the amounts determined by the extraction methods were: 0.85 (Mehlich-1), 0.82 (RE), 0.84 (RC), 0.89 (RM), 0.75 (D1) and 0.70 (D2). Soil phosphorus contents extracted by the exchange resin methods were highly correlated (r=0.98), as well as with the amounts extracted by the D-1 method (r = 0.89). The results indicated that the studied methods are equally effective for predicting P availability to the corn plants.