Influence of phosphorus application on methane emission and production in flooded paddy soils

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Abstract

In a field study, phosphorus applied as single superphosphate (SSP) distinctly inhibited CH4 emission from a flooded field plot planted to rice. In subsequent laboratory studies, application of P at 50 and 100 μg g−1 dry soil as K2HPO4 stimulated CH4 production in a P-deficient soil, while there was no such stimulation in P-normal alluvial soil. CH4 production in soils depended on the source of P applied as evidenced by stimulation with K2HPO4 or Jordan rock phosphate, while Mussorie rock phosphate and SSP were inhibitory. The results indicate that the S content of the P sources determines the extent of stimulation or inhibition of CH4 production. Moreover, supplementary addition of K2SO4, even with K2HPO4, mimicked the inhibitory effect of SSP on CH4 production. In practice, use of SSP in rice cultivation, in addition to supplying P to the growing crop, could mitigate CH4 production and emission through its S content.

Introduction

Methane, one of the important “greenhouse gases”, is produced by microbial conversion of biological carbon under anaerobic conditions (Ferry, 1992). Rice soils that are flooded for a major part of the cropping period usually provide a congenial environment for CH4 production and are considered to be a major anthropogenic source for biogenic CH4 (Schutz et al., 1989; Hogan et al., 1991; Minami and Neue, 1994). CH4 production in flooded rice soils is governed by several edaphic and climatic factors, e.g. Eh, pH, organic matter content, temperature (soil and environment) and rice varieties (Conrad, 1993; Delwiche and Cicerone, 1993; Lindau et al., 1993; Neue and Roger, 1993). In addition, several common cultural practices associated with rice growing, including the use of nutrients, could affect CH4 production in rice soils (Kimura et al., 1991; Sass et al., 1992). Identification of the combination of these soil and cultural conditions are important in order to stabilze or reduce future CH4 emission from flooded rice soils (Wassmann et al., 1993).

Plant nutrients (N, P, S, etc.), either naturally occurring or added as fertilizer (Lindau et al., 1991; Wang et al., 1992; Kimura et al., 1992; Delwiche and Cicerone, 1993) to paddy soil may affect the emission of CH4 by either influencing the growth of the rice plant or methanogenic microbial communities. CH4 emission has been correlated with plant biomass (both above and underground) (Sass et al., 1990). It is possible that application of plant nutrients affect the total CH4 emission from flooded rice paddies. There are reports that microbial methanogenesis in anoxic soil is stimulated by organic amendments (Yagi and Minami, 1990; Lauren and Duxbury, 1993; Denier van der Gon and Neue, 1995) and inhibited by nitrate (Bollag and Czlonkowski, 1973; Kitada et al., 1993) and sulphate (Cappenberg, 1975; Westermann and Ahring, 1987; Achtnich et al., 1995).

Phosphorus is one of the macronutrients essential for plant growth. Addition of P to rice fields promotes root growth and rhizosphere activity (Cholitkul et al., 1980) and heterotrophic nitrogen fixation (Rao et al., 1986). However, the role of P on the activity of methanogenic bacteria in rice soil is not known.

We studied the effect of P added as single superphosphate on CH4 emission from a flooded field planted to rice and CH4 production in a flooded P-normal and P-deficient soil under laboratory conditions. In addition, the effect of naturally-occurring P sources, such as rock phosphate, on CH4 production in flooded soil was also examined.

Section snippets

Field experiment

A field experiment on CH4 emission from continuously flooded paddy fields was conducted during the wet cropping season (June–October) of 1994. The soil was a typic Haplaquept (deltaic alluvium) with a sandy clay–loam texture (pH 6.2, clay 25.9%, silt 21.6%, sand 52.5%, organic matter 1.55%, total N 0.09%, SO4-S 36.5 μg g−1, Olsen's P 8 μg g−1) (Adhya et al., 1994). The field was ploughed, puddled thoroughly and levelled. Rice plants (cv. Ratna, 28-d-old plants) were transplanted at a spacing of

Results and discussion

CH4 emission from the control (no P) field plots planted to rice (cv. Ratna) varied from 6.84 to 16.95 mg CH4 m−2 h−1 with a mean emission value of 13.16 mg CH4 m−2 h−1 throughout the 75-d cropping period (Fig. 1). CH4 emission increased with crop growth, reached its maximum during the reproductive stage and declined thereafter. Application of P as SSP substantially inhibited CH4 emission especially at the 40- and 50-d samplings. During the early and final growth stages when CH4 emission was not

Acknowledgements

We thank Dr K. C. Mathur, Director for permission to publish this work. This research was supported by a grant from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, New Delhi. Fellowship grants from the University Grants Commission, Government of India, New Delhi to Ms P. Pattnaik and Mr S. N. Satpathy and the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi to Mr S. Kumaraswamy are gratefully acknowledged. We also thank Dr R. N. Dash for providing the rock phosphates used

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