Phosphorus loss management and crop yields: A global meta-analysis

Phosphorus (P) management is critical for environmental protection as excessive or inappropriate P application can lead to water pollution. However, conflicting results from various experiments on the effectiveness of P management practices make it challenging to draw general conclusions. Moreover, there is a lack of comprehensive analysis on the effects of P management practices on crop yields as a result of their implementation. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis (522 paired observations), combing with previous meta-analyses, to evaluate the effectiveness of different P management practices on reducing soil P loss and the impact of these practices on crop yields during the study periods. Our findings indicate that the most effective P loss management practices do not necessarily result in the greatest improvement in crop yield. In summary, efficient irrigation, crop straw return, buffer strip, and intercropping demonstrat the greatest effectiveness in reducing soil P loss, achieving an average reduction of − 94.2%, − 87.7%, − 87.2%, and − 61%, respectively. While soil amendment, intercropping, and conservative practices have showed the largest increase in crop yields, attaining an average increase of 188.8%, 80%, and 72.9% respectively. In addition, we find that soil available P level, crop growing season rainfall, and P addition amount are important factors influencing the effectiveness of P management practices. High soil available P and rainfall tended to offset the effectiveness of these practices, while high P additions correlated with more effective reduction of P loss. Based on our results, we recommend prioritizing crop straw return when implementing P loss control practices.