Improvement in phosphorus use efficiency of corn crop by amending the soil with sulfur and farmyard manure

Abstract

The use of organic manure is proposed to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers, as well as to add sulfur (S) into the soil so that the phosphate use efficiency may be improved by maize crop. This field experiment was conducted during 2014 at Assiut city, Assiut governorate, Egypt to study the effect of sulfur and farmyard manure (FYM) on phosphorus availability, grain yield and phosphorus use efficiency of corn (Zea mays L. cv Single Hybrid 10). Randomized complete block design was followed with three replications. Four treatments viz SP= superphosphate, SP+S = superphosphate +sulfur, SP+FYM = superphosphate +farmyard manure and SP+FYM+S = superphosphate + farmyard manure + sulfur were tested. The soil analysis after corn harvest showed that the Olsen P of the soil improved with applying sulfur or farmyard manure and their mixture in presence of superphosphate. Adding farmyard manure with superphosphate enhanced grain yield of corn plants by 44.6% as well as the application of superphosphate with farmyard manure and sulfur increased the grain yield by 44.2% compared to the SP. The results in this study showed that amending soil by farmyard manure and sulfur with superphosphate improved phosphorus use efficiency in comparison with superphosphate alone.