Effect of Dextran Modified Phosphate Fertilizer on the Winter Wheat Yield and Fertilizer Utilization Rate

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of dextran modified phosphate fertilizer prepared by the reaction between dextran and phosphate fertilizer with different polymerization degrees on the growth and soil phosphorus effectiveness of wheat, so as to provide the scientific support and theoretical basis for the application of dextran in phosphate fertilizer.

By using the reaction method, glucose (monomer), maltose (2-polymer), oligomaltose (≈5-polymer) and polydextrose (≈20-polymer) were added to a mixture of phosphoric acid and potassium hydroxide at 1% addition to prepare glucose-modified phosphate fertilizer (GP), maltose-modified phosphate fertilizer (MP), oligomaltose-modified phosphate fertilizer (OP) and polydextrose-modified phosphate fertilizer (PP), and the normal phosphate fertilizer (P) was prepared without the addition of dextran. The structural characteristics of the reaction between dextran and phosphate fertilizer were investigated by Fourier infrared transform spectroscopy (FTIR) and ³¹P nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (³¹P NMR). Five treatments, including P, GP, MP, OP, and PP, were set up according to the principle of equal phosphorus amount, and the control (CK) was applied with only nitrogen and potassium fertilizers. The effect of different polymeric dextran modified phosphate fertilizers on wheat yield and fertilizer utilization was investigated by soil column cultivation.

(1) Compared with P, the FTIR spectra of dextran modified phosphate fertilizer showed a new vibration peak at 975 cm^-1, and the ³¹P NMR spectra showed a new displacement peak at 3.09-4.51 ppm, which might be due to the reaction between the hydroxyl group of dextran and phosphoric acid to form orthophosphate monoester. (2) Wheat yields were increased by 5.1%, 9.3%, 11.2% and 1.4% for the treatments with different polymerization degrees of dextran modified phosphate fertilizers (GP, MP, OP and PP) compared with P, respectively, mainly through the number of spikes, followed by the number of grains. (3) Compared with P, the total phosphorus uptake of wheat was significantly higher by 8.2%-21.4% under different polymerization degrees of dextran modified phosphate fertilizer treatments, among which, OP treatment was significantly higher than the other treatments. (4) The apparent phosphate fertilizer utilization rate of dextran modified phosphate fertilizer treatment was increased by 4.4-11.5 percentage points compared with P. The phosphate fertilizer bias productivity and phosphorus fertilizer agronomic efficiency were increased by 1.4%-11.2% and 1.6%-13.1%, respectively. The phosphate fertilizer utilization rate of both MP and OP treatments were significantly higher than P. (5) Compared with P, the soil fast-acting phosphorus content of dextran modified phosphate fertilizer treatment was significantly higher 10.2%-29.9%, and the OP treatment was significantly higher than the other dextran modified phosphorus fertilizer treatments.

Compared with common phosphate fertilizer, all dextran modified phosphate fertilizers with different polymerization degrees could improve wheat yield, promote the uptake and utilization of phosphorus in wheat, increase soil fast-acting phosphorus content, and reduce phosphorus fertilizer fixation. With the increase of dextran polymerization degree, wheat yield and apparent phosphorus fertilizer utilization increased first and then decreased. The best effect of dextran polymerization on the modification and efficiency of phosphate fertilizer was achieved when the polymerization degree of dextran was 4-6.