Co-application of rock phosphate and zeolite can mitigate phosphorus deficiency in soils

Abstract

Important plant nutrient next to nitrogen is phosphorus (P). Phosphorus deficiency is widely noticed in soils with low pH or high concentrations of aluminium and iron. It has been found that nearly 30-40% of the cultivated lands in the world is challenged by P deficiency. The extent of P deficiency is found to be high in tropical and subtropical areas. In India, the extent of P deficiency is 49.3%. Moreover, P fertilizers are found to be costly as the raw material is imported from other countries. The raw material is rock phosphate, Yet, high grade rock phosphate is required for manufacture of P fertilizers. According to FAO, it is estimated that about 260 million tonnes (Mt) of RP deposits are available in India and only a fraction of it (about 5.27 Mt) meets the specification of the fertilizer industry because of their low P content (low-grade). Thus, only 10% of native available RP is suitable to produce P fertilizer in India. Recently, ministry of chemicals and fertilizers reported that India cam become Aatmanirbhar in phosphatic fertilizers. The Government of India (GOI) has taken an action plan to make use of indigenous rock phosphate for manufacturing P fertilizers.