Open Journal of Soil Science, 2014, 4, 42-46 Published Online January 2014 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojss ) http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojss.2014.41006 Phosphorus Availability, Uptake and Dry Matter Yield of Indian Spinach (Basella alba L.) to Lime and Phosphorus Fertilization in an Acidic Soil Ashoka Sarker, Md. Abul Kashem * , Khan Towhid Osman Department of Soil Science, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh. Email: * kashem00@yahoo.com Received December 5 th , 2013; revised January 5 th , 2014; accepted January 12 th , 2014 Copyright © 2014 Ashoka Sarker et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. In accor- dance of the Creative Commons Attribution License all Copyrights © 2014 are reserved for SCIRP and the owner of the intellectual property Ashoka Sarker et al. All Copyright © 2014 are guarded by law and by SCIRP as a guardian. ABSTRACT A pot experiment was carried out to investigate the yield of Indian spinach (Basella alba L.) and their uptake and availability of phosphorus from lime and phosphorus amended acidic soil. Four rates of lime (L) equivalent to 0, 500, 1000 and 2000 kg CaCO 3 ha −1 and four rates of phosphorus (P) equivalent to 0, 50, 100, and 150 kg·P·ha −1 of TSP were applied in combinations as treatments. Dry matter yield, P concentrations in shoot and root and P up- take by Indian spinach were determined after harvesting 10 weeks old plant and soil samples were collected from each pot to measure available P by Olsen method. Both L and P and their combinations had significant (P < 0.001) effects on shoot and root biomass, shoot and root P concentrations, P uptake by Indian spinach and P availability. Although lime and P increased biomass production, P concentrations of shoot and root, and its up- take by Indian spinach and available P, this effect was boosted by combining L with P applied. 1000 kg lime plus 100 kg P were adequate for plant growth. Available P was strongly and positively correlated (R 2 = 0.909, P = 0.000) with P uptake by plant. Results of the present study indicated that lime and phosphorus could be used in combination to enhance plant growth. KEYWORDS Lime; Phosphorus; Acid Soil; Soil Available P; Yield; Indian Spinach 1. Introduction Phosphorus limits the crop production because only about 20% of applied phosphorus is utilized by crop and remaining part is converted into insoluble forms [1]. So- luble phosphorus, either from fertilizer or natural wea- thering, reacts with clay, iron, and aluminum compounds in the soil and is converted readily to less available forms by the process of phosphorus fixation. Because of these fixation processes, phosphorus moves very little in most soils (less than an inch in most soils). Phosphorus defi- ciencies and aluminum toxicities often occur simulta- neously in many acid soils and are thought to be respon- sible for poor crop yields in such soils [2]. Fertilization with P in the absence of lime resulted in lower yield than where lime was applied. In highly weathered, acid soils around the world, P, Ca, and Mg deficiencies and Al and Mn toxicities are the most important nutritional and/or element disorders that limit the crop yields [3-5]. Liming enhances available P in soil [6]. An increasing response to applied P with increasing rates of added lime have been attributed to either an improved rate of supply of P by the soil or an improved ability of the plant to ab- sorb P when Al toxicity has been eliminated [7]. Several laboratory and field studies have been undertaken to de- termine how phosphorus availability responds to lime addition. Information on the effect of liming on P sorp- tion is not consistent. Some studies suggested that liming decreases the P sorption by soils [8], while other reported increased P sorption due to liming [9] and some observed effect of liming on P sorption was nil [10]. Therefore, * Corresponding author. OPEN ACCESS OJSS