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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp5 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Influence of phosphorus levels on phosphorus fractionation and transformation in Inceptisols

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.15712
Submitted
26 May 2026
Published
31-08-2026

Abstract

Phosphorus (P), a crucial macronutrient for plant growth, is severely limited to Inceptisols due to its fixation by calcium (Ca), iron (Fe) and aluminium oxides (Al2O3), which renders it insoluble and unavailable for plant uptake. An experimental investigation involving soil incubation was conducted to examine the transformation of phosphorus (P) fractions in Inceptisol soil. Seven treatments were evaluated: absolute control, control and potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH₂PO₄) at 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 ppm. Soil samples were collected at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 days of incubation. Phosphorus fractions and total P were determined using appropriate analytical methods, including the molybdenum blue spectrophotometric method for total P. Phosphorus fractions were significantly affected by both P concentration and incubation period. Soluble P initially increased and subsequently decreased, indicating its transformation into less-soluble forms. Stable P fractions, including calcium phosphate, iron-bound P and non-labile P gradually increased during the incubation period. Maximum P availability was observed on day 20. Principal component analysis (PCA) confirmed distinct clustering of the stable P fractions. Correlation analysis revealed strong positive relationships among the stable P fractions, whereas negative relationships were observed between soluble and stable P fractions. These findings indicate that the Inceptisol had a strong capacity to fix applied P into stable forms, suggesting that split or slow-release P fertilisation strategies, timed according to crop demand, may be necessary to sustain plant-available P and improve fertiliser-use efficiency in such soils.

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