ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Optimizing Maize Growth and Phosphorus
Use Efficiency through Integrated P
Application and Irrigation Strategies
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1
Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan
2
Land Resources Research Institute, National Agricultural Research Centre, Islamabad, Pakistan
3
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,
Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
4
Mountain Agricultural Research Centre MARC, Chilas, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan
5
Key Laboratory of Vegetation Restoration and Management of Degraded Ecosystems, South China Botanical Garden,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China
6
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
7
Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Submission date: 2023-09-17
Final revision date: 2023-12-02
Acceptance date: 2023-12-25
Online publication date: 2024-06-28
Publication date: 2024-07-12
Corresponding author
Usman Zulfiqar
Department of Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur,
Bahawalpur 63100, Pakistan
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2024;33(5):5747-5755
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ABSTRACT
Phosphorus (P) is crucial for plant functions like root growth, energy transfer, photosynthesis, and
cell division. Yet, its soil efficiency is hindered by high fixation, low solubility, and immobility. Besides,
its increased availability and subsequent plant uptake requires availability of sufficient moisture, as
increased soil moisture contents higher dissolution of P occurs leading to increased root development,
which, ultimately, increase nutrient uptake by plants. We performed a field experiment to check the
effect of different P application levels along with different irrigation schemes in improving P uptake
efficiency of maize and its related growth and yield attributes. In different treatments, irrigation was
provided at recommended levels, skipped at milking and flowering stages to check the impacts of
moisture contents on soil P availability. We observed that among different P levels, application of P
at 90 kg ha-1 along with recommended irrigation level enhanced different maize traits, such as shoot
length (13.4%), root length (51%), shoot fresh and dry weights (35 and 25%), root fresh and dry weights
(37 and 42%), SPAD value (17%), chlorophyll ‘a and b’ (16 and 7%), P use efficiency (255%), harvest
index (43%) and carotenoid contents (26%), as compared to control followed by P at 120 kg ha-1.
Furthermore, in terms of soil nutrient attributes, P at 90 kg ha-1 along with recommended irrigation level
enhanced soil organic matter (17%), active carbon (22%), available P (122%) and extractable potassium (36%), as compared to control. A consecutive decline in all the measured attributes was pragmatic under
skipped irrigation systems under all the P application levels. We concluded that P application at 90 kg
ha-1 combined with recommended irrigation levels can significantly increase P use efficiency of maize
along with increased soil P availability and related growth and yield attributes.