Placing superphosphate at different depths in the soil changes its effectiveness for wheat and lupin production

In a field experiment on a sandplain soil in a low rainfall (326mm per annum) Mediterranean environment of south-western Australia, seven levels of single superphosphate, 0, 7.5, 10, 14, 19.5, 30 and 39 kg P ha^–1, were placed at either 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 or 13 cm depth before sowing wheat (Triticum aestivum) at 3 cm. In a separate treatment, superphosphate was drilled with the seed (the normal practice). In the second year, the plots were sown with lupins (Lupinus angustifolius) at 3 cm depth with no additional superphosphate. In three separate treatments, superphosphate at 0, 14 and 39 kg P ha^–1, was drilled with the lupin seed (the normal practice) on plots that had received no superphosphate in the first year. Yields of wheat and lupins were used as a measure of the effectiveness of the superphosphate placement treatments relative to the effectiveness of superphosphate drilled with seed of wheat (year 1) or lupins (year 2), to give relative effectiveness (RE) values in each of the two years.In the first year the RE of superphosphate was increased by about 20% when the fertilizer was placed 5 to 9 cm deep in the soil. In the second year, the RE of superphosphate for producing lupin grain was increased by about 30–60% where the fertilizer had been placed 5–13 cm deep in the previous year compared with freshly drilled 3 cm deep. The yield of wheat or lupins was closely related to the P content of plant tissue; each relationship was independent of the depth or year of superphosphate application.