Improving the prediction of fertilizer phosphorus availability to plants with simple, but non-standardized extraction techniques.

In the framework of the circular economy, new P fertilizers produced from diverse secondary raw materials are being developed using various technologies. Standard extraction methods (neutral ammonium citrate (NAC) and H2O) provide limited information about the agronomic efficiency of these often heterogenous new products. Here, we compared these extractions with two alternative methods: 0.5 mol L-1 NaHCO3 and a sink extraction driven by phosphate adsorption onto ferrihydrite ("Iron Bag") on 79 recycled and mineral reference fertilizers. We compared their capacity to predict shoot biomass and P content of rye (S. cereale L.) grown in a greenhouse on three soils of contrasting pH with a subset of 42 fertilizers. The median extracted P (% of total P) was H2O (1%) < NaHCO3 (25%) < Iron Bag (67%) < NAC (85%). The NaHCO3 extraction stood out as a cost-effective and reliable method to predict plant shoot biomass and P content (R2 ranging between 0.65 and 0.86 in the slightly acidic and alkaline soil). Notwithstanding, the other methods provide complementary information for a more detailed characterization of how P solubility may be impacted by e.g. soil pH, granulation, or time. The implications of this work are therefore significant for fertilizer production, regulation, and use.