The Jyndevad Experiment: Revealing long-term interactions between liming and phosphorus fertilization in a coarse sand soil

Abstract

The Jyndevad field experiment, initiated in 1942 on a coarse sand soil in South of Denmark, explores the effect of four liming levels (0, 4, 8 and 12 Mg lime ha⁻¹). These were in 1944 combined with two levels of mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizer (0 and 15.6 kg P ha⁻¹ year⁻¹), with or without a high initial dose of 156 kg mineral P ha⁻¹. This study assesses interactions between liming and P fertilization on soil pH, Olsen-P contents and barley yields covering the last three decades. Annual P application improved barley yield regardless of liming, but the optimal liming level differed from year to year. This emphasizes the need for long-term field experiments to detect the complex interactions between liming and P availability on crop performance. The initial high P dose in 1944 and annual P fertilization increased Olsen-P contents in soil. The unlimed soil with pH(CaCl₂) values below 4 had the highest Olsen-P content. The Jyndevad Experiment now harbors wide gradients in soil P (Olsen-P contents: 9–82 mg P kg⁻¹ soil) and pH (3.6–6.9), providing a unique research platform for future studies on interactions between liming and P fertilization on coarse sand soils. We present a selection of studies that have used the Jyndevad Experiment to illustrate the research potential of the experiment.