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The estimation of the phosphorus fertilizer requirements of wheat in southern New South Wales by soil analysis
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1963
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BiogeochemistryPrecision AgricultureEngineeringLand UseSoil ScienceSustainable AgricultureAgricultural EconomicsCrop YieldPhosphorus Fertilizer RequirementsSoil AnalysisPublic HealthSoil FertilityFertilizer RequirementsFertilizer ApplicationNutrient Management
Wheat yield in southern New South Wales is strongly influenced by seasonal environmental conditions, so soil analysis correlates poorly with absolute or relative yield but shows stronger relationships with the yield increase from fertilizer application. The study evaluated five contrasting soil analysis methods for estimating phosphorus fertilizer requirements for wheat using yield data from 27 field experiments. Researchers compared the methods by analyzing field data and developed a regression response surface to directly estimate fertilizer requirements for maximum economic return under average climatic conditions. The 0.5 M NaHCO₃ extraction produced the strongest correlations, but the precision of the estimates is constrained more by the flatness of the response surface and uncontrolled field variation than by the extraction method itself.
The usefulness of five contrasting methods of soil analysis for estimating the phosphorus fertilizer requirements of wheat in southern New South Wales has been investigated, using yield data provided by 27 field experiments. Because the level of yield of wheat is strongly affected by seasonal environmental conditions poor correlations are obtained between soil analysis and absolute or relative yield of wheat, Much better and often significant correlations are obtained between soil analysis and the absolute increase in yield from fertilizer application. The best correlations were obtained with an 0.5M NaHCO3 extraction of soil phosphorus. A regression response surface calculated from these relationships provides a method for making direct estimates of fertilizer requirements for maximum economic return to farmers under average climatic conditions. The precision of these estimates is limited more by the flatness of the response surface and uncontrolled variation in the field data, than by inadequacies in the representation of available phosphorus by the NaHCO3 analysis.