Use of Phosphate Rocks for Sustainable Agriculture for Sustainable Agriculture
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
I S S N FAO 0 5 FERTILIZER 3 2 - AND PLANT 0 4 1 8 8 3 NUTRITION 13 BULLETIN FAO FERTILIZER AND PLANT NUTRITION BULLETIN 13 Use of phosphate rocks Use of phosphate rocks for sustainable agriculture for sustainable agriculture Extensive research on the agronomic potential and actual effectiveness of phosphate rocks (PRs) as sources of phosphorus has been carried out in Africa, Asia, Latin U s e America and elsewhere. A wealth of information is o f available, but it is scattered among meeting proceedings, p h o technical reports and scientific and other publications. This s p h bulletin gives comprehensive coverage of the key topics a t e regarding the utilization of PRs in agriculture, including the r o c latest information on PR research, and provides guidelines k s f o for the direct application of PR (DAPR) to the acid soils of r s u the tropics and subtropics. The selected topics include: world s t a i PR deposits; characterization of PR sources; evaluation n a b methodologies of PR sources for direct application; analysis l e a of the biophysical and farming factors that affect the g r i c agronomic effectiveness of PR sources, together with an u l t u analysis of the socio-economic factors that influence the use r e and adoption of PR technologies as a capital investment to trigger agricultural intensification; development and use of decision-support systems for DAPR; soil P testing for PR application; available technologies for enhancing the agronomic effectiveness of indigenous PR sources; environmental issues; legislation guidelines; and future research areas and priorities. ISBN 92-5-105030-9 ISSN 0532-0488 F A 9 7 8 9 2 5 1 0 5 0 3 0 9 O TC/M/Y5053E/1/1.04/1600 COVER PHOTOGRAPHS Phosphate rock ore and mining in Khouribga, Morocco. Abdelatif Belmehdi, IMPHOS, Morocco. Phosphate rock broadcast application. Efficient fertilizer use, 1988, FAO, Rome. Good crop of improved maize. Honduras. FAO/17274/C. Sanchez. Copies of FAO publications can be requested from: SALES AND MARKETING GROUP Information Division Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00100 Rome, Italy E-mail: [email protected] Fax: (+39) 06 57053360 Web site: http://www.fao.org FAO FERTILIZER Use of phosphate rocks AND PLANT NUTRITION for sustainable agriculture BULLETIN 13 Technical editing by F. Zapata Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture Vienna, Austria R.N. Roy Land and Water Development Division FAO, Rome, Italy A joint publication of the FAO Land and Water Development Division and the International Atomic Energy Agency FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2004 FRONTESPIZIO-DISCLAIMER.INDD 1 20-01-2004, 15:50 The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations or the International Atomic Energy Agency concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. ISBN 92-5-105030-9 All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to: Chief Publishing Management Service Information Division FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to: [email protected] © FAO 2004 FRONTESPIZIO-DISCLAIMER.INDD 2 20-01-2004, 15:50 Contents LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES viii ACKNOWLEGEMENTS x PREFACE xi CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS xiii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS xiv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY xvii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 Phosphorus in the soil-plant system 1 The need for sustainable development 2 Addressing the P constraint in tropical acid soils 3 Use of phosphate rocks in industry and agriculture 3 Phosphate rocks as raw materials for P-fertilizer manufacturing 3 Phosphate rock for direct application in agriculture 4 Historical account of the use of phosphate rocks in agriculture 6 The bulletin 8 2. WORLD PHOSPHATE DEPOSITS 11 World phosphate rock production 11 World phosphate rock reserves and resources 12 Future trends in world phosphate rock production 15 3. CHARACTERIZATION OF PHOSPHATE ROCKS 17 Phosphate rock mineralogy 17 Sedimentary apatites 17 Igneous apatites 19 Other minerals in PRs 19 Phosphate rock solubility tests 21 Apatite solubility 21 Classifi cation of phosphate rocks based on solubility 23 Characterization methods 24 4. EVALUATION OF PHOSPHATE ROCKS FOR DIRECT APPLICATION 27 Phosphate-rock solubility tests 28 Solubility measurements using conventional chemical techniques 28 Kinetics of long-term PR dissolution 30 PR reactivity scales and crop yield response 31 Measurement of exchangeable P from PR by radioisotopic techniques 33 Reactions between phosphate rocks and soil 34 Soil incubation 34 Liming effect of PRs 35 Greenhouse tests 35 Comparison of PRs with standard fertilizers 37 iv Effect of time 38 Relationship between PR solubility and crop P uptake 39 Field evaluation 39 5. FACTORS AFFECTING THE AGRONOMIC EFFECTIVENESS OF PHOSPHATE ROCKS, WITH A CASE-STUDY ANALYSIS 41 Factors affecting the agronomic effectiveness of phosphate rocks 41 Reactivity of PRs 41 Soil properties 42 Climate conditions 45 Crop species 45 Management practices 46 Case studies 47 Mali 47 Madagascar 49 India 50 Indonesia 52 New Zealand 54 Latin America 54 6. SOIL TESTING FOR PHOSPHATE ROCK APPLICATION 59 Soil phosphorus reaction and soil testing 59 Conventional soil tests 60 Bray I test 60 Bray II and Mehlich I tests 62 Olsen test 63 Recently developed soil tests 64 Iron-oxide-impregnated paper test 64 Mixed anion and cation exchange resins 66 Isotopic 32P exchange kinetic method 67 7. DECISION-SUPPORT SYSTEMS FOR THE USE OF PHOSPHATE ROCKS 69 The need for a decision-support system for phosphate rocks 69 Conceptual basis for building a PR-DSS 69 Different types of DSS to predict PR performance 71 Mechanistic models 71 The combination of mechanistic and empirical models 71 Expert systems 72 The ‘RPR Adviser’ in Australia 72 Requirements for a global DSS for PR use 74 Creation of a database for PR reactivities 74 Creating a database of soils for PR use 74 Other requirements 75 Future developments 75 8. SECONDARY NUTRIENTS, MICRONUTRIENTS, LIMING EFFECT AND HAZARDOUS ELEMENTS ASSOCIATED WITH PHOSPHATE ROCK USE 77 Secondary nutrients in phosphate rock 77 Micronutrients in phosphate rock 79 Liming effect associated with PR use 80 Hazardous elements in phosphate rock 82 v 9. WAYS OF IMPROVING THE AGRONOMIC EFFECTIVENESS OF PHOSPHATE ROCKS 85 Biological means 85 Phospho-composts 85 Inoculation of seedlings with endomycorrhizae 88 Use of ectomycorrhizae 90 Use of phosphate solubilizing micro-organisms 90 Use of plant genotypes 91 Chemical means 92 Partial acidulation of phosphate rock 92 Physical means 95 Compacted PR with water-soluble phosphate products 95 Dry mixtures of PR with water-soluble phosphate fertilizers 95 Phosphate rock elemental sulphur assemblages 95 10. ECONOMIC FACTORS IN THE ADOPTION AND UTILIZATION OF PHOSPHATE ROCKS 99 Possible adoption and use of phosphate rock by end users 100 Cost of production, transport and distribution 102 Economic considerations and policies to support PR adoption 104 Pricing policy 105 Organizational policy 105 Agricultural product markets 105 Risk protection 106 Research and extension policy 106 Case studies of PR exploitation and use 107 Marketing of indigenous phosphate rocks for direct application 109 Latin America 110 Asia 110 Sub-Saharan Africa 111 Economic criteria in PR adoption and use – a case study on Venezuela 111 Agronomic evaluation and domestic market potential 112 Economics of PAPR production 112 Pilot-plant evaluation test 114 PAPR quality 115 The Moron PAPR plant 115 Raw materials and products 115 11. LEGISLATION AND QUALITY CONTROL OF PHOSPHATE ROCKS FOR DIRECT APPLICATION 117 Current legislation on phosphate rock for direct application 117 Associated issues 118 Total P2O5 content of PR 118 Solubility of phosphate rock 119 Expressing PR solubility 119 Free carbonate effect 120 Particle-size effect 121 Guidelines for legislation on DAPR 122 12. EPILOGUE 125 BIBLIOGRAPHY 127 vi List of tables 1. World phosphate rock production, 1999 12 2. World consumption of direct application phosphate rock 12 3. World phosphate rock reserves and reserve base 13 4. World economic identifi ed phosphate concentrate resources 14 5. Solubility data on selected phosphate rock samples 21 6. Proposed classifi cation of PR for direct application by solubility and expected initial response 23 7. Ranking system for some South American PRs by solubility and RAE 23 8. Chemical analysis and solubility in conventional reagents of selected African PRs 28 9. Citrate soluble P of North Carolina PR as affected by particle size 29 10. Correlation coeffi cients between reactivity scales of seven PRs and crop yield 32 11. Spatial variability of PR samples within the same deposit 32 12. PR kinetics of isotopic exchange and solubility in water 33 13. Effects of incubating PRs on the characteristics of an Oxisol from Njole, Gabon 34 14. Results of a pot experiment with selected African PRs 36 15. Estimated RAE coeffi cients based on L values and P uptake from the pot experiment 38 16. Changes with time of the estimated RAE coeffi cients for PRs applied to a Madagascar Andosol 38 17. P uptake from PRs in a Madagascar Oxisol as infl uenced by soil water content 39 18.