Elsevier

Pedosphere

Volume 19, Issue 2, April 2009, Pages 244-250
Pedosphere

Plant Phosphorus Uptake in a Soybean-Citrus Intercropping System in the Red Soil Hilly Region of South China*1

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(09)60114-4Get rights and content

Abstract

A field microplot experiment was conducted in the red soil hilly region of South China to evaluate plant phosphorus (P) uptake under soybean and citrus monoculture and the soybean-citrus intercropping system using the 32P tracer technique. P fertilizer was applied at three depths (15, 35, and 55 cm). The experimental results showed that the planting pattern and 32P application depth significantly affected the characteristics of P uptake by soybean and citrus. Under the soybean-citrus intercropping system, considerable competition was observed when the 32P fertilizer was applied to the topsoil (15 cm); therefore, the 32P recovery rate declined by 41.5% and 14.7% for soybean and citrus, and 32P supplying amount of topsoil to soybean and citrus decreased by 346.8 and 148.1 mg plot−1, respectively, compared to those under the monoculture. However, 32P recovery of soybean was promoted when 32P fertilizer was applied to the deeper soil layers (35 and 55 cm) under soybean-citrus intercropping. Under the soybean monoculture, 32P fertilizer could hardly be used by soybean when 32P fertilizer was applied at the 55 cm depth or below, with the recovery rate being less than 0.1%; it was up to 0.253% by soybean under intercropping. The higher P recovery of soybean under soybean-citrus intercropping when P was applied in the deeper soil layers was because part of the P nutrient that the citrus absorbed from the deeper soil layers could be released into the topsoil and then it could be used by the soybean.

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Cited by (7)

  • Contribution of interspecific interactions and phosphorus application to increasing soil phosphorus availability in relay intercropping systems

    2017, Field Crops Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    In this study, maize yield was considered as the dependent variable, and biomass, P uptake and soil available P were the independent variables. As discussed by Zhou et al. (2009), intercropping significantly increases crop nutrient accumulation compared to monoculture systems. Facilitation of growth of cereals by a legume has been frequently reported(Ghosh et al., 2006), with an obvious advantage for cereal intercropped with legume as a result of N fixation.Our results clearly showed that intercropping and relay effects differed under maize/soybean and maize/sweet potato intercropping systems.

  • Soil water dynamics and availability for citrus and peanut along a hillslope at the Sunjia Red Soil Critical Zone Observatory (CZO)

    2016, Soil and Tillage Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    This can be explained by the fact that citrus tree active rooting zone is usually 100 cm but it is 50 cm for peanut crop (Allen et al., 1998). Our results are consistent with the findings of Zhou et al. (2009) that a significant amount of root water uptake by citrus trees was from deeper soil. Greater water content in deeper soil layers at the foot slope than at the up slope, especially in case of the peanut-fallow plot, was a result of the surface runoff and subsurface lateral flow.

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*1

Project supported by the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-407) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of Hunan Agricultural University (No. 04YJ10).

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