Phosphorus Losses to Water from Lowland Rice Fields under Rice–Wheat Double Cropping System in the Tai Lake Region

To assess P losses to surface water by runoff during the rice season and by drainage flow during the winter wheat season, serial field trials were conducted in different types of paddy soils in the Tai Lake Region (TLR) during 2000 and 2001. Four P application rates were set as 0 (CK), 30, 150, and 300 kg P/hm² for flooded rice trials and 0 (CK), 20, 80, 160 kg P/hm² for winter wheat trials respectively. Field experiments were done in two locations with a plot size of 30 m² and four replications in a randomized complete block design. A simplified lysimeter was installed for each plot to collect all the runoff or drainage flow from each event. Total P (TP) losses to surface water during rice season by runoff flow from four treatments were 150 (CK), 220 (T30), 395 (T150), 670 (T300) g P/hm² in year 2000, and 298, 440, 1828, 3744 g P/hm² in year 2001 respectively in Wuxi station, here the soil is permeable paddy soil derived from loam clay deposit. While the losses were 102, 140, 210, 270 in year 2000, and 128, 165, 359, 589 g P/hm² in year 2001 respectively in Changshu station, here the soil is waterlogged paddy soil derived from silt loam deposit. During the winter wheat season, total P lost from the fields by drainage flow in the four treatments were 253 (CK), 382 (T20), 580 (T89), 818 (T160) g P/hm² in year 2000–2001, and 573.3, 709.4, 1123.2, 1552.4 g P/hm² in year 2001–2002 at the Wuxi station. While these were 395.6, 539.1, 1356.8, 1972.1 g P/hm² in year 2000–2001, and 811.5, 1184.6, 3001.2, 5333.1 g P/hm² in year 2001–2002 at the Changshu station. Results revealed that P fertilizer application rates significantly affected the TP concentrations and TP loads in runoff during the rice season, and by drainage flow during the winter wheat season. Both TP loads were significantly increased as the P application rate increases. The data indicate that TP losses to surface water were much higher during the winter wheat season than during the rice season in two tested sites. The data also reveal that the annual precipitation and evaporation rate affected the soil P losses to surface water significantly. Year 2000 was relatively dried with higher evaporation thus P losses to water by both runoff and drainage flow were less than in year 2001 which was a relatively wet year with lower evaporation. Results indicate that texture, structure of the soil profile, and field construction (with or without ridge and deep drains) affected soil P losses to surface water dramatically. Annual possible TP lost to water at the application rate of 50 kg P/hm² year tested in TLR were estimated from 97 to 185 tones P from permeable paddy soils and 109–218 tones P from waterlogged paddy soils. There was no significant difference of TP lost between the CK and the T50 treatments in both stations, which indicate that there is no more TP lost in field of normal P fertilizer application rate than in control field of no P fertilized. Much higher TP lost in runoff or drainage flow from those other P application rates treatments than from the T50 treatment, which suggest that P losses to surface water would be greatly increasing in the time when higher available P accumulation in plough layer soil in this region.