EDMONTON – An on-farm research trial has found that adding phosphorus to peas creates more nodules and vigorous looking plants but doesn’t affect yields.
Roger Andreiuk, an agronomist with Reduced Tillage Linkages, says field peas yielded 58.3 bushels per acre when no phosphorus was added and 56.6 to 59.7 bu. per acre when 25 to 50 lb. of phosphorus were added per acre with either a single or double shoot.
However, Andreiuk cautioned that it’s still unclear what will happen to the crops in following years.
“The guy who don’t put down phosphorus on your peas, you’re right, maybe, but what happens next year?” he said during FarmTech 2008 in Edmonton.
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The trial at Gordon Tuck’s farm near Lavoy, Alta., was designed to evaluate the effect of phosphorus fertilizer on nitrogen fixation in peas.
It compared peas with no phosphorus, 25 lb. of phosphorus per acre with a single shoot, 50 lb. per acre with a single shoot, 25 lb. per acre with a double shoot and 50 lb. per acre with a double shoot.
Plant emergence was not significantly different among any of the treatments, but plant vigour and nodulation were significantly higher with the phosphorus treatments.
Follow-up research is planned this year to see if differences show up later.
