Project

Help us to improve efficient P fertilization!

This thesis topic aims to acquire a better understanding of the effect of soil physical properties on phosphorus uptake.

Background

In agronomy, assessing soil P availability for crop growth is currently purely based upon the chemical P availability of soil. However, in two long term field experiments we found that the required chemical availability of phosphate for optimal crop yields was three times lower on a calcareous loamy soil than a sandy soil! The uptake of phosphate is thus also dependent on other soil properties. We suspect that soil physical properties, like water holding capacity and the tortuosity, affect the diffusion of phosphate to plant roots and therefore also the required chemical availability of phosphate. You will set up a pot experiment with loamy and sandy soil varying in soil water content and soil compaction to test the effect of these factors on phosphate uptake. Depending on time and interest you may try to develop standardized experimental procedures to measure P diffusion in soil and link differences to soil properties.

More in depth knowledge how various soil properties affect the optimal chemical availability of P in soil helps to reduce overapplication of non-renewable P fertilizer.

Interested in this topic? Please contact Hendrik Holwerda (hendrik.holwerda@wur.nl)

Used skills

  • Literature research
  • Lab skills (including development of experiment)
  • Data processing and analysis
  • Scientific writing and reporting
  • Presentation skills

Requirements

  • 12 credits of SOC/SBL-courses. Including one from the following courses: SBL21806 Soil Quality, SOC21306 Soil Pollution and Soil Protection, SOC40806 Field Training Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Interactions, and SOC33806 Environmental Analytical Techniques.