The effect of meat and bone meal on phosphorus concentrations in soil and crop plants

A four-year field experiment was conducted in northeastern Poland. The aim of the study was to determine the direct and residual effects of increasing doses of meat and bone meal (MBM) on the available phosphorus content of soil and the total phosphorus content in crops above ground biomass or grain. Experimental factor I was MBM dose (1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 t/ha/year, and 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 t/ha/every second year), and experimental factor II was the year of the study (four consecutive years). The application of increasing MBM doses to slightly acidic soil insignificantly decreased its pH, but it did not change soil classification. The use of MBM as a fertilizer increased the levels of available phosphorus, compared to the treatments with mineral fertilization. The grain of winter triticale and winter wheat and the green matter of maize contained higher concentrations of phosphorus after the MBM application, in comparison to the plants receiving mineral fertilization. Phosphorus uptake by winter wheat and maize plants (dry matter basis) was higher in treatments with MBM (in particular applied every second year) than in treatments with NPK fertilization. Irrespective of the frequency of MBM application, phosphorus uptake by winter rapeseed was considerably lower, compared to the control plants.