Open Journal of Soil Science, 2012, 2, 50-54
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojss.2012.21008 Published Online March 2012 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ojss)
Effect of Organic and Inorganic Amendments on the
Phytoavailability of Phosphorus to Corn (Zea mays)
Mejbah Uddin, Abul Kashem*, Khan Towhid Osman
Department of Soil Science, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Received December 29th, 2011; revised January 30th, 2012; accepted February 8th, 2012
ABSTRACT
A pot experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of cow manure, city waste, chicken manure and TSP on the
growth of corn (Zea mays) and phytoavailability of phosphorous (P) in soil. An air dried sandy loam soil was mixed
with different amendments at rates equivalent to 0, 200, 400 and 800 mg·P·kg–1 soil based on total P. The plant height
and leaf number increased in the plants grown in amended pots compared to control pot. The dr y weight of shoots and
roots in the control po t were 14.3 and 2.8 g, respectively. The shoot dr y weights of corn in creased from 43.8 to 76.6 g
with the cow manure, 27.8 to 38.7 g with the city waste, 48.4 to 68.2 g with the chicken manure and 30.2 to 32.2 g with
the TSP amendments when the P addition rates increased from 200 to 800 mg·P·kg–1 soil. Similar effects of these
amendments and their rates were also found in the case of roots dry weights production. Phosphorus concentration in
the plant parts increased with the P application from different amendments but the increase was higher with the TSP
fertilizer and lower with the city waste amendments. Olsen P (measured after the plant harvest) increased with P appli-
cation rates. The extractabilit y of Olsen P from different amendments increased in this order: city waste < chick en ma-
nure < cow manure < TSP. Olsen P was strongly related with both shoot and root P concentration of corn (r = 0.910, p =
0.000), indicate suitability of Olsen P to predict plant available P. These results imply that cow manure and chicken
manure could be recommended to use in the agricultural field for producing optimum yield.
Keywords: Organic Manure; Phosphate Fertilizer; Olsen P; Corn
1. Introduction
Phosphorus is an essential nutrient both as a part of sev-
eral key plant structure compounds and as a catalysis in
the conversion of numerous key biochemical reactions in
plants. The total P content of most surface soils is low,
averaging only 0.6% P. Soil P is classified in two broad
groups, organic and inorganic. Organic P is found in plant
residues, manures, and microbial tissues. Soils low in or-
ganic matter may contain about 3 % of their total P in the
organic form, but hi gh organic m atter (OM ) soil s may con-
tain 50% or more of their total P content in the organic
form [1]. Inorganic forms of soil P consist of apatite (the
original sour ce of all phosphoru s), complexes of iron and
aluminum phosphates, and P absorbed on clay particles.
The solubility o f these P compounds, as well as organic P
is extremely low and only very small amounts of soil P
are in solutio n at any one time . Most soil s conta in less th an
a pound per acre of soluble P, with some soils containing
considerably less. Through adequate P fertilization and
good crop/soil management, soil solution P can be repla-
ced rapidly enough for optimum crop production [2].
Rapidly rising prices of P fertilizers and the concern of
high crop intensities in our country have stimulated the
interest of using different types of organic amendments
in our soils. Organic amendments contain considerable
amounts of organic phosphorus which are mineralized
(similar to organic nitrogen), and provide available phos-
phorus for plant growth. Unfortunately, OM status of
Bangladesh soil is one of the lowest in the world. The
average OM content of Banglad esh soils is less than 1%,
ranging between 0.05% and 0.9% in most cases. Organic
matter supply in soil is on e of the major constrain ts to the
agriculture of the country and hence the release of P from
OM is negligible [3]. Compost addition s can improve the
fertility and the physi o-chem ical propert ies of soil s [4,5] .
The availability of city wastes, cow and chicken ma-
nures P to crops and its impact on soil P pool may differ
from that of inorganic P fertilizer [6-8]. McCoy et al. [8 ]
found that biosolids (treated City wastes) P was four to
seven times less available than triple super phosphate P.
In contrast, other studies have suggested that P in organic
amendments may be equally or more available than fer-
tilizer P [9,10]. Therefore, this study was conducted to
*Corresponding author.

Effect of Organic and Inorganic Amendments on the Phytoavailability of Phosphorus to Corn (Zea mays) 51
investigate the effects of cow manure, city wastes, chic-
ken manure and TSP on the growth of corn and phytoa-
vailability of phosph orus in soils.
2. Materials and Methods
A pot experiment was conducted in the crop field of the
Department of Soil Science, University of Chittagong us-
ing a Pahartoli Silty Clay Loam surface soil. Soil samples
were collected, air dried and passed through 4-mm sieve
for using it in the pots. For laboratory analysis, a sub sam-
ple was air dried and passed through a 2-mm sieve and
stored. Soil pH was 5.1 (1:2.5 so il to water ratio), organic
carbon [11] was 0.88% and CEC (extraction with 1 M
NH4OAc (pH 7.0; [12]) was 7.12 cmol·kg–1. Th e soil con-
tained 66% sand and 19% clay measured by hydrometer
method [13]. Cow manure was collected from Chittag-
ong University Campus, city waste from Ananda Bazar
of Chittagong City, city and chicken manure was col-
lected from the Veterinary and Animal Sciences Univer-
sity of Chittagong.
Five kilogram (5 kg) air dried soil were mixed with the
cow manure, city waste, chicken manure and TSP at rates
equivalent to 0, 200, 400, 800 mg·P·kg–1 soil, respec-
tively based on total P. There were 13 treatments and
each treatment was replicated three times. The pots were
ar- ranged in a completely randomized design. Three
corn (Zea mays) seeds were sown to each plastic (70 cm in
dia- meter) pot. One week after emergence, one seedling
was kept in each pot. The plants were irrigated occasion-
ally up to 30 days of sowing and from then onwards daily.
The number of leaves and plant height were recorded at
30, 60 and 90 days of growth (at harvest). At 90 days of
growth, plants were harvested, leaf number, maximum
height of corn was recorded. Plants were separated into
shoots and roots, and air dried for several days. After
words, the shoots and roots were oven dried at 65˚C for
72 hours and dry mass was recorded. Soil samples were
collected from each pot after harvest to measure soil pH
and 0.5 M NaHCO3 (Olsen P) extrac t able phos phorus.
Total phosphorous in the soil, organic amendments and
in the plant tissues were determined colorimetrically by
ascorbic acid blue color method [14 ] after digestion with
H2O2-H2SO4 [15] and the absorbance was measured by
spectrophotometer at wave leng th of 882 nm. Total phos-
phorus concentration in the experimental soil was 0.04%,
in the cow manure was 0.35%, in the ci ty waste was 0.52%
and in the chicken manure was 2.22%. The available phos-
phorous of the soil were determined by the same proce-
dure as mentioned above after extraction with 0.5 M
NaHCO3 [16].
Statistical Analysis
Microsoft Excel and MINITAB program [17] were used
for ana lysis of variance an d correlation.
3. Rasults
3.1. Plant Growth
Growth parameters (height, leaves number and dry wei-
ght) were influenced by amendments and increased sig-
nificantly with P application rates. Mean height of corn
plant at 30 to 90 days growing period increased from 42
to 94 cm, 83 to 177 cm and 83 to 182 cm, and the leaves
number increased from 5 to 12, 9 to 16 and 11 to 20, re-
spectively. Irrespective of amendments, the height of
corn increased with the duration of growth from 75 cm at
30 days to 175 cm at 90 days in average. Similarly, the
number of leaves also increased from 9 to 15 within the
same growth period (Table 1). Dry weight of shoot in-
creased from 14.3 to 76.6 g and of root from 2.8 to 21.1
g·pot–1. The highest dry weight of shoot and root was ob-
tained with the cow manure treatment of 800 mg·P·kg–1
and lowest with the control (T0) treatment. The second
highest value was recorded in the chicken manure treat-
ment (800 mg·P·kg–1). The city waste and TSP pro-
duced similar dry matter yield. Growth performance was
better in the cow manure amended soils than the other
amendments (Table 1 and Table 2).
3.2. Phosphorus Concentration in Plant Parts
Phosphorus concen tration in the shoots of corn increased
with increasing the rates of P from different amendments.
Phosphorus concentration in the shoot of control pot was
the lowest of 554 mg·kg–1 and the highest of 4525 mg·kg–1
with TSP (800 mg·P·kg–1 treatment), while in the roots,
the corresponding values were 628 and 3818 mg·kg–1,
respectively. Phosphorus concentration in the shoots of
corn increased from 1682 to 2418 mg·P·kg–1 in the cow
manure, 1432 to 2629 mg·P·kg–1 in the city waste, 1296
to 1707 mg·P·kg–1 in the chicken manure and 2076 to
4525 mg·kg–1 in the TSP fertilizer treated plants with the
rates of P addition from 200 to 800 mg·kg–1 soil. The sa-
me amendments increased root P concentration from 1442
to 2141, 944 to 1938, 720 to 1419 and 1578 to 3918
mg·kg–1 in the cow manure, city waste, chicken manure
and in the TSP fertilizer treated pots (Table 2).
3.3. 0.5 M NaHCO3 Extractable P and Soil pH
The amount of P extracted with 0.5 M NaHCO3 (Olsen P)
followed the increasing trend of P additions from differ-
ent amendments. It was observed that the Olsen P in the
soils ranged from 3.66 mg·kg–1 (Control) to 206 mg·kg–1
(TSP 800 mg·kg–1). It is evident that among the amend-
ments, NaHCO3 extracted highest amount of P from TSP
fertilizer amended soil and smallest amount from the city
wasted amended soil. The P extractability from different
amendments was in the order: TSP > cow manure > chic-
ken manure > city waste.

Effect of Organic and Inorganic Amendments on the Phytoavailability of Phosphorus to Corn (Zea mays) 52
Table 1. Effect of different doses of cow manure, city waste, chicken manure and TSP on the height and leaf number of the
plant at different days of growth.
Height of the plant at different days of growth (cm) Leaf number of th e p la n t at d if f e rent days of growth
30 60 90 30 60 90
Control (T0) 42c ± 6.0 83d ± 11 86c ± 11 5c ± 0.5 9d ± 1.2 11b ± 1.5
Cow Manure 200 (T1) 85a ± 10 130b ± 8.6 133b ± 7.6 9ab ± 1.2 12c ± 0.6 14b ± 1.5
Cow Manure 400 (T2) 89a ± 7.8 160ab ± 14 163a ± 13 11a ± 1.1 16b ± 1 .7 18ab ± 1.2
Cow Manure 800 (T3) 94a ± 4.2 177a ± 1.2 182a ± 5.1 12a ± 1.7 17a ± 0.6 20a ± 1.0
City Waste 200 (T4) 55bc ± 13 128bc ± 15 130b ± 13 7bc ± 1.0 11cd ± 0.7 13b ± 2.1
City Waste 400 (T5) 64bc ± 7.6 134ab ± 6.3 1 3 7b ± 5 .6 7c ± 1.2 12c ± 0.6 13b ± 1.5
City Waste 800 (T6) 55bc ± 19 116c ± 23 127b ± 13 8bc ± 2.1 14b ± 1.9 15b ± 2.9
Chicken Manure 200 (T7) 75ab ± 6.8 162a ± 9.7 163a ± 11 8bc ± 2.0 12c ± 0.5 13b ± 0.6
Chicken Manure 400 (T8) 79ab ± 6.4 153ab ± 8.7 156ab ± 10 9ab ± 1.2 14bc ± 0.9 16b ± 1.1
Chicken Manure 800 (T9) 80ab ± 10 165a ± 10 173a ± 12 10ab ± 1.5 15b ± 0.6 17b ± 0.6
TSP 200 (T10) 88ab ± 5.7 121bc ± 5.9 1 2 1b ± 5 .3 9ab ± 0.5 13cd ± 0.7 15b ± 1.0
TSP 400 (T11) 88ab ± 4.0 117bc ± 3.2 1 1 8b ± 3 .1 11a ± 1.5 14c ± 1.0 16b ± 1.0
TSP 800 (T12) 78 ab ± 14 128bc ± 8.5 128b ± 8 .1 11a ± 1.1 15c ± 0.8 16b ± 1.2
Mean 75 136 139 9 13 15
Means followe d by the same letter (s) in a column is not significantly different at p < 0.05 level, ± denotes standard deviation.
Table 2. Effect of different doses of cow manure, city waste, chicken manure and TSP on the dry weight and P concentrations
of shoot and roots, Olsen P and soil pH.
Dry weight of shoot and
root of corn (g·plant–1) Phosphorus concentration in shoot and in root of plant (m g·kg–1)
Shoot Root Shoot Root
Olsen P in soil
(mg·kg–1) Soil pH
Control (T0) 14.25d ± 2.6 2.75d ± 0.6 554e ± 70 628e ± 41 4.3f ± 1.3 5.3f ± 0.05
Cow Manure 200 (T1) 43.78c ± 5.2 11.72b ± 1.1 1682d ± 242 1442cd ± 236 33.7e ± 3.8 5.6e ± 0.09
Cow Manure 400 (T2) 59.58b ± 2.3 16.91a ± 1.8 191 4cd ± 253 1805cd ± 303 55.9d ± 3.6 5.8e ± 0.05
Cow Manure 800 (T3) 76.57a ± 4.9 21.09a ± 2.5 2418bc ± 35 2141bc ± 253 69.9c ± 7.1 6.1d ± 0.06
City Waste 200 (T4) 27.86c ± 2.8 3.87d ± 0.4 1432d ± 161 944de ± 213 16.6e ± 2.3 6.5b ± 0.13
City Waste 400 (T5) 32.33c ± 1.3 5.28d ± 1.0 1671d ± 193 1280de ± 181 21.2e ± 2.1 6.8a ± 0.08
City Waste 800 (T6) 38.71c ± 2.8 6.89cd ± 0.8 2629 c ± 419 1938cd ± 130 28.1e ± 0.6 6.9a ± 0.32
Chicken Manure 200 (T7) 48.40bc ± 4.1 9.27bc ± 1.3 1296d ± 40 720e ± 82 12.3ef ± 2.2 6.4c ± 0.17
Chicken Manure 400 (T8) 58.13b ± 2.1 11.63b ± 0.8 1454d ± 68 971de ± 124 28.4e ± 2.3 6.7b ± 0.06
Chicken Manure 800 (T 9) 68.20a ± 1.6 14.28b ± 0.9 1707d ± 202 1419de ± 313 55.2d ± 2.6 7.1a ± 0.07
TSP 200 (T10) 30.15c ± 2.4 4.33d ± 0.3 2076cd ± 184 1578cde ± 14368.9c ± 0.9 5.5ef ± 0.06
TSP 400 (T11) 32.05c ± 5.5 3.60d ± .8 3044b ± 263 2013bc ± 376 126b ± 8.1 5.6e ± 0.06
TSP 800 (T12) 30.62c ± 3.8 3.87d ± 1.0 4525a ± 686 3918a ± 262 206a ± 6.9 5.5e ± 0.08
Means followe d by the same letter (s) in a column is not significantly different at p < 0.05 level, ± denotes standard deviation.

Effect of Organic and Inorganic Amendments on the Phytoavailability of Phosphorus to Corn (Zea mays) 53
After the harvest, pH measured in the control soil was
5.36, while it increased from 5.57 to 6.05, 6.48 to 6.93,
6.38 to 7.06 and 5.48 to 5.53 in the cow manure, city
waste, chicken manure and TSP fertilizer treated soils
when the rates of P added from 200 to 800 mg·P·kg–1 soil
from different amendments. Among the amendments, the
hi- ghest changes of pH was observed in the chicken
manure treated soil and lowest in the TSP fertilizer
treated soil, however, pH changes were almost similar in
city waste and chicken manure treated soil.
Correlation coeff icient of P concentration of shoot an d
root of corn with Olsen P of soil was calculated to find
out the relationship among them. Olsen P showed very
strong positive correlation with both shoot and root P
concentration (r = 0.910, p = 0.000) which indicating
suitability of Olsen P to predict plant available P (Figure
1). Soil pH did not show an y relationship with dry matter
yield, plant P concentration and with Olsen P in soil.
4. Discussion
The higher increase in plant growth in the cow and chic-
ken manure treated soils than the TSP treated soil might
be due to the improved soil physical, chemical and bio-
logical properties that enhanced plant growth and soil pH.
The rise in productivity observed after addition of com-
post is attributed to the increase in the nutrient availabil-
ity to the plants [4,5,18]. Metal phytotoxicity issues as-
sociated with an acid soil would also be reduced with
compost addition [4,19]. Phosphorus concentration in the
plant parts increased linearly with rates irrespective of
amendments. It is evident from the result on P content
under different treatments that application of TSP is
more effective when P uptake is concern. Higher content
of P in shoot and root under TSP 800 mg·kg–1 and TSP
400 mg·kg–1 is logical as TSP is soluble and immediately
supply soluble P for immediate plant uptake and accu-
mulation [20].
5. Conclusion
The rates of P addition from different amendments in-
creased biomass production of corn significantly except
the TSP fertilizer. The TSP fertilizer addition only increa-
sed plant P concentration not the growth as did other or-
ganic amendments. Higher biomass production in the or-
ganic amendments, especially in the cow manure and
chicken manure treatments indicate that they provided
other essential nutrients beside P and hence growth in-
creased. The results imply that cow manure and chicken
(A ) r = 0.910; p =0. 000
0
2000
4000
6000
050100 150 200 250
Shoot P conc . (mg/kg)
Ol sen P (m g / kg )
( B) r = 0 .91 0; p =0.0 0 0
0
2000
4000
6000
050100 150 200 250
Root P conc. (mg/ kg)
Olsen P (mg/kg)
Figure 1. Correlation betwe e n (A) Shoot P and Olsen P and be tween (B) Root P and Olsen P.

Effect of Organic and Inorganic Amendments on the Phytoavailability of Phosphorus to Corn (Zea mays)
54
manure could be recommended to use in the agricultural
field for producing optimum yield when additional che-
mical fertilizers are not applied.
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