Soluble phosphate fertilizers have been preferably used in plant crop production. The cost of applying conventional water soluble phosphate fertilizer is high in developing countries since their manufacturing requires...Soluble phosphate fertilizers have been preferably used in plant crop production. The cost of applying conventional water soluble phosphate fertilizer is high in developing countries since their manufacturing requires importing high grade rock phosphate （RP）. As a result, the use of indigenously available low-grade RP is gaining importance globally. In this study, experiments were carried out using clayey loamy alkaline soil to evaluate the agronomic efficiency of fine sized low grade RP with inorganic nitrogen fertilizers and it was further compared with that of soluble phosphate fertilizer （di-ammonium phosphate）, Cicer arietinum was the test crops subjected to treatments of absolute control, di-ammonium phosphate and low grade RP with varying concentrations of ammonium sulphate or ammonium nitrate. The experiments were conducted during 2012-2013 in the bid to study the growth rate and the biomass of the crop. Tests were also performed to determine the residual effects of the fertilizers on the crops. The results revealed that the combined use of low grade RP and ammonium sulphate or ammonium nitrate, at 16 kg N/ha, resulted in an agronomic efficiency, in terms of biomass of plants, comparable to that of di-ammonium phosphate and was found to be a more attractive management option for resource-poor farmers.展开更多
文摘Soluble phosphate fertilizers have been preferably used in plant crop production. The cost of applying conventional water soluble phosphate fertilizer is high in developing countries since their manufacturing requires importing high grade rock phosphate （RP）. As a result, the use of indigenously available low-grade RP is gaining importance globally. In this study, experiments were carried out using clayey loamy alkaline soil to evaluate the agronomic efficiency of fine sized low grade RP with inorganic nitrogen fertilizers and it was further compared with that of soluble phosphate fertilizer （di-ammonium phosphate）, Cicer arietinum was the test crops subjected to treatments of absolute control, di-ammonium phosphate and low grade RP with varying concentrations of ammonium sulphate or ammonium nitrate. The experiments were conducted during 2012-2013 in the bid to study the growth rate and the biomass of the crop. Tests were also performed to determine the residual effects of the fertilizers on the crops. The results revealed that the combined use of low grade RP and ammonium sulphate or ammonium nitrate, at 16 kg N/ha, resulted in an agronomic efficiency, in terms of biomass of plants, comparable to that of di-ammonium phosphate and was found to be a more attractive management option for resource-poor farmers.
