The effect of broadcast struvite fertilization on element soil content and microbial activity changes in winter wheat cultivation in southwest Poland

This study aimed to evaluate the potential of struvite as a phosphorus fertilizer in winter wheat cultivation in southwest Poland. The field experiment was conducted at Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences in Swojec in 2022/2023. The studied factors were two cultivars of winter wheat (Activus and Chevignon) and two phosphorus fertilization methods (traditional superphosphate and struvite). Aditionally, the study attempted to develop a reasonable phosphorus testing method to analyze phosphorus content in soil. Three phosphorus extraction methods were used to determine P, Mg and K content where Mehlich 3 and Yanai seem to be most appropriate. The following traits in the study were estimated: grain yield, content of P, Mg and K in the grain, as well as soil microbial activity expressed as enzyme activity (acid and alkaline phosphatase, dehydrogenase), metabolic activity (Biolog EcoPlates™) and phosphate solubilizing bacteria (PSB) abundance. An increase in the Mg content of wheat grain under the influence of struvite application was found. Phosphorus content in the soil depended primarily on the date of soil sampling followed by fertilization method and varieties based on the Egner-Rhiem method as well as Mehlich 3. Soil enzymatic activity depended mainly on the sampling date and then on fertilization. In the case of PSB, the dominant factor was the wheat cultivars. Biolog EcoPlate analysis showed that the most metabolically active microbial communities were recorded in samples collected at the second time of sampling (end of winter wheat vegetation) To see how the phosphorus content develops after the application of struvite under field conditions as well as its fraction, a long-term experiment should be conducted.