Pigeon Manure Tea Improves Phosphorus Availability and Wheat Growth through Decreasing P Adsorption in a Calcareous Sandy Soil

Abstract

ABSTRACT There are many environmental problems related to the production of inorganic phosphorus (P) fertilizers as well as their continuous usage, which pose great challenges to sustainable agriculture. Applying inorganic P fertilizers combined with pigeon manure tea (PMT) could be a promising strategy to enhance P use efficiency and yield of crop plants. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of integrated use of inorganic P and PMT on P sorption using Freundlich sorption isotherms as well as the availability of P and its use efficiency by wheat grown in a calcareous sandy soil. Application of PMT amendment significantly enhanced P availability compared to the unamended soil. The PMT significantly decreased the rate of P sorption from 246 to 179 mL g−1 and sorption capacity of the soil from 388 to 298 µg P g−1 soil. Consequently, the P fertilizer quantity required to produce the desired level of P in solution (0.2 mg L−1) was low in PMT amended soil (114 mg P kg−1) than that in control soil (140 mg P kg−1). Application of inorganic P in combination with PMT increased P use efficiency (PUE) of the wheat plant. Thus, the combined application of PMT and P fertilizer has positive, complementary, and synergistic effects on P availability in soil and its uptake by wheat plants. Due to its low cost and easy availability, integrated use of PMT1:100 (2.4 t PM ha−1) and inorganic P fertilizer could be an effective amendment to reduce P-sorption and improve soil P availability in the calcareous sandy soil.