Residual value of superphosphate for wheat and lupin grain production on a uniform yellow sandplain soil

Abstract

In a field experiment on a sandplain soil in a low rainfall (326 mm per annum) Mediterranean environment of south-western Australia, the effectiveness of superphosphate applied in 1986 was measured in three subsequent years relative to freshly-applied superphosphate each year, using grain (seed) yields of wheat (Triticum aestivum) and lupins (Lupinus angustifolius). The wheat and lupins were grown in rotation and both crops were grown each year starting in 1986. Bicarbonate-soluble phosphorus was determined on soil samples taken in mid June from where the P treatment was applied in 1986 only. These soil test values were related to the grain yields produced that year.