Assessing the Role of Competing Anions Silicate and Bicarbonate on Diffusion of P vis-à-vis Its Bioavailability in Different Soils Measured by Resin Disc Technique

Abstract

The bioavailability of phosphorus (P) depends on its diffusion process. An attempt has been made to study the effects of bicarbonate and silicate on phosphate diffusion through the analysis of its bioavailability. Resin discs were used to determine P diffusion rate (PDR), which was observed to increase in the presence of competing anions in the following sequence: silicate > bicarbonate > control. Phosphorus diffusion rate also increased with added P levels, temperature, and moisture. Added P level in soil is the most important factor, which contributed about 56% of the variation in PDR. The presence of competing anions such as bicarbonate and silicate accounted for 12.5% of the variations of PDR in soil system. Embedded resin discs in fields treated with different treatments showed significant variation of PDR in the following sequence of treatments: mixture of biogas slurry and paddy straw > sodium silicate > only paddy straw > biogas slurry > control.

Keywords:

• Diffusion
• phosphorus
• resin disc