Transport of phosphorus forms and of nitrate through a clay soil under grass and cereal production

Abstract

Many nutrients are lost from soil to water viatile drains. However, there are very few reliable studies of such phosphorus(P)losses under Swedish agriculture practices, especially in connection tofertiliser and slurry applications and related to nutrient balances. Tile drainlosses were measured from nine experimental plots in south-west Sweden; fourplots were measured for 7 years and five plots for 2–3 years. Cereals,mainly spring barley (Hordeum vulgare, L.) and oats(Avena sativa, L.), were grown in six plots, while oneplotwas cultivated with grass, timothy (Phleum pratense L.)andmeadow fescue (Festuca pratensis, L.), one with lucerne(Medicago sativa, L.) and meadow fescue (F.pratensis, L.), and the last one was a “set-aside” withgrass (Lolium perenne, L. and Trifoliumrepens, L.) that was neither fertilised nor used for crop removal.Attention was paid to the forms in which P was transported to water since thishas important ecological implications. Average losses of particulate P (PP)fromthe “set-aside land” was significantly lower than from the cerealproduction, but the average losses of soluble reactive P (SRP) and dissolvednonreactive P (DUP) were the same. Average loss of PP from the grass ley during 3years (0.09 kg per ha−1 y−1) wassignificantly less than the losses from cereal production. Total P loss of 0.3kg per ha−1 y−1 was equal to the averagelossfrom the Swedish monitoring network of observation fields. Compared to theaverage nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) leaching, which was 7 kg perha−1 y−1 from cereals, the NO3-Nleaching was very low from the plots with lucerne-grass and “set-aside”.After applying and directly ploughing in 80 kg ha−1 ofsuperphosphate for cereal production in November 1998, 0.6–1.8 kgSRP ha−1 y−1 was lost through the drain tiles.Surface application of cattle slurry in spring 1999 to the grass ley alsoresulted in a very pronounced increased base level of SRP. This paper documentsthe importance of applying slurry during dry conditions and of placingfertiliser into the soil according to crop requirements in the time perspectiveof one year.