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Thresholds of target phosphorus fertility classes in European fertilizer recommendations in relation to critical soil test phosphorus values derived from the analysis of 55 European long-term field experiments

Affiliation
University of Rostock, Landscape Ecology and Site Evaluation, Germany
Steinfurth, Kristin;
Affiliation
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Soil and Environment, Sweden
Börjesson, Gunnar;
Affiliation
ISPA, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, INRAE, France
Denoroy, Pascal;
Affiliation
University of Rostock, Landscape Ecology and Site Evaluation, Germany
Eichler-Löbermann, Bettina;
Affiliation
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Gans, Wolfgang;
Affiliation
Landesbetrieb Landwirtschaft Hessen (LLH), Germany
Heyn, Johannes;
Affiliation
Agroscope, Agroecology and Environment, Water Protection and Substance Flows, Switzerland
Hirte, Juliane;
Affiliation
Walloon Agricultural Research Centre (CRA-W), Soil, Water and Integrated Production, Belgium
Huyghebaert, Bruno;
Affiliation
Université de Toulouse, INRAE, UMR AGIR, France
Jouany, Claire;
Affiliation
Landesbetrieb Landwirtschaft Hessen, Fachgebiet Fachinformation Pflanzenbau, Germany
Koch, Dierk;
Affiliation
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH (UFZ), Versuchsstation Bad Lauchstädt, Germany
Merbach, Ines;
Affiliation
Agricultural Technology Center Augustenberg, Germany
Mokry, Markus;
Affiliation
ISPA, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, INRAE, France
Mollier, Alain;
Affiliation
ISPA, Bordeaux Sciences Agro, INRAE, France
Morel, Christian;
GND
1058990144
Affiliation
Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI), Institute for Crop and Soil Science, Germany
Panten, Kerstin;
Affiliation
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany
Peiter, Edgar;
Affiliation
Rothamsted Research, Sustainable Agriculture Sciences Department, United Kingdom
Poulton, Paul R.;
Affiliation
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research GmbH (UFZ), Versuchsstation Bad Lauchstädt, Germany
Reitz, Thomas;
Affiliation
Aarhus University, Department of Agroecology, Denmark
Rubæk, Gitte Holton;
Affiliation
Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety – AGES, Institute for Sustainable Plant Production, Department for Soil Health and Plant Nutrition, Austria
Spiegel, Heide;
Affiliation
University of Rostock, Landscape Ecology and Site Evaluation, Germany
van Laak, Michael;
Affiliation
Technical University of Munich, Crop Physiology, Germany
von Tucher, Sabine;
Affiliation
University of Rostock, Landscape Ecology and Site EvaluatUniversity of Rostock, Landscape Ecology and Site Evaluation, Germanyion, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 6, Rostock, Germany
Buczko, Uwe

Phosphorus (P) fertilizer recommendations of individual countries may differ in many aspects, but often the main principle is to reach or maintain a target range of plant-available P in soil. Within this target P fertility class, the soil is expected to supply enough P to the crop, while P fertilization replaces what is exported by the harvested crop. However, the threshold values of the target P fertility classes are based on a multitude of different soil test P (STP) methods and vary by a factor of up to three, even for countries using the same STP method. This study aimed to provide a comparison of the thresholds of target P fertility classes of different European countries and critical soil test P values (Pcrit; STP below which the average relative yield falls below 95% due to P insufficiency) derived from the analysis of data from 55 long-term field experiments in eight European countries. To overcome the issue of diverging STP methods, all values were converted to Olsen-P using empirically based conversion equations from the literature. Converted threshold values varied by a factor of up to five. For the experimental data, we fitted multi-level Mitscherlich-type models to determine Pcrit values of unfertilized soils corresponding to 95% of maximum yield. We found an average Olsen-Pcrit value of 15 mg P kg−¹ (adj. R² = 0.37; RMSE = 14.1% relative yield; n = 2368; 55 experiments), which lies far below several country-specific thresholds of target P fertility classes. Crop-specific analyses resulted in higher Olsen-Pcrit values for sugar beet (22 mg P kg−¹), potato (19 mg P kg−¹) and winter rapeseed (18 mg P kg−¹). Among the texture classes (loam, sand, silt and clay), sandy soils exhibited the highest average Olsen-Pcrit value (22 mg P kg−¹). We consider a reevaluation of extraordinarily high country-specific thresholds as well as an inclusion of crop type and soil texture (where not already implemented) to be a reasonable measure towards more cost-effective and environment-friendly P fertilization.

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