Effect of Soil Moisture Content and Phosphorus Application on Phosphorus Nutrition of Rice Cultivated in Different Water Regime Systems

Abstract Pot experiments were conducted in a glasshouse to investigate the effect of soil water content and phosphorus (P) supply on biomass, P uptake by rice cultivated in soils with different water regimes and soil available P. Results showed that P application rates had greater effect on P nutrition of rice than soil moisture content. Yield of rice grain was significantly decreased when soil moisture content was kept at 60% of water holding capacity (WHC) while the yields of rice grain were not significantly different when soil moistures were remained at 80% of WHC and waterlogged. This meant that it was possible for paddy rice variety to be cultivated in aerobic soil under the condition of sufficient P supply. The highest biomass of rice and highest P uptake by rice were found in the treatment with 0.0300 g P kg−1 of P application rate and with 80% of WHC. Soil available P content decreased with the decrease of both the soil moisture content and the P applied. Rice crop exhausted soil P to a great ext...