Kinetics of phosphate release from soil and its uptake by wheat

Summary Laboratory and glasshouse experiments were conducted to study P release kinetics and uptake of P by wheat (Trilicum, aestivum L.) in ten benchmark soils of Punjab (India). Phosphorus desorption, determined by successive extraction with 0·01 m-CaCl2 solution, was lower in calcareous soils (group I) than in non-calcareous soils (group II). Desorption of surface P in soils followed pseudo-first-order kinetics. The values of the kinetic constant of desorption and the radial diffusion coefficient of P increased with the amount of added P in soils. A significant linear relationship between cumulative desorbed P and both dry-matter yield and P uptake indicated that the rate of release of P from the solid matrix is important in determining P uptake by wheat crop. Phosphate uptake was less dependent on the initial solution P concentration than on the rate of phosphate release.