Mitigating phosphorus leaching from a clay loam through structure liming

ABSTRACT Phosphorus (P) losses from clay soils can be mitigated by introducing measures for improving soil structure. These include structure liming, where a mixture of CaO or Ca(OH)2 and CaCO3 is added to the soil. In a field experiment with separately tile-drained plots on a clay loam in Sweden, we examined the effects of structure liming on leaching of total-P, phosphate P (PO4-P) and total nitrogen (N) during three years after initial application. The treatments included two application rates (8 and 16 t ha−1) of a common product in comparison with a control (no lime). Effects of structure liming emerged during the second and third year after application, with 45 and 38% lower total-P leaching than in the unlimed control. A significant effect of the application rate was found in the third year. Nitrogen leaching and crop yield were not affected. As expected, soil pH raised following structure lime addition. Measurements of aggregate stability did not confirm the reduction in P leaching, indicating that it is important to measure P concentrations in drainage water directly when assessing the effect of structure liming.