JWSS - Journal of Water and Soil Science

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Phosphorus is often considered the most limiting soil nutrient for plant productivity. Several extractants have been typically used to measure available P. Organic and inorganic P fractions are not measured by common soil test, and thus fractionation schemes using various extractants have been developed over years to quantify the different chemical forms of P in soils. The objectives of this research were: i) to investigate the effect inorganic P fractions on Phosphorus availability ( Olsen procedure), and ii) to evaluate the relationships between these P fractions and Garlic (Allium sativum) plant indices. Soil inorganic P fractions were determined in 30 surface soil samples (0-30 cm) from various regions of Hamedan Province. Inorganic P fractions included dicalcium phosphate (Ca2-P), octa calcium phosphate (Ca8-P), P adsorbed by Al oxide (Al-P), P adsorbed by Fe oxide (Fe-P), P incorporated into Fe oxide (O-P), and apatite (Ca10-P). Total P and Organic P were measured in these soils. In order to evaluate the availability of different forms of P to plant, a pot experiment was conducted on Garlic plant. The treatments including two rates of P (zero and 150 mg kg-1) and 9 soils from 30 soil samples were arranged in a factorial experiment in a completely randomized design with three replicates. The results showed the total P with an average of 1501 mg kg-1 soil, and organic P comprised 19 % of the total P. The inorganic P fractions (Ca2-P), (Ca8-P), (Al-P), (Fe-P), (O-P), (Ca10-P) and residual phosphate (Res-P) comprised 4.7, 20, 8.7, 3.0, 2.8, 24 and 18 % of total P, respectively. Most of the inorganic P occurred as Ca-P and comprised 49% of total P. The correlation study between different P fractions showed that Ca2-P, Ca8-P, Ca10-P, and Al-P were significantly correlated with Olsen-P. This suggested that probably Olsen procedure essentially removed some P from these fractions. The results of pot experiment indicated that plant indices (relative yield and Yield efficiency) were significantly correlated with Ca2-P, Ca8-P and Olsen-P (P ≤ 0.05). P availability in the studied soils was influenced by Ca2-P and Ca8-P which could be used in a long period of time by plant.