Phytoremediation of Manure Enriched Soils.

In the Delmarva region where poultry production is the major agricultural enterprises, poultry manure has been used for decades to enhance soil fertility.  The repeated application of poultry manure to agricultural lands has resulted in excess farm-level phosphorus (P) with various undesirable effects such as pollution of the Chesapeake Bay, eutrophication, and fish kill in water bodies in the Delmarva Peninsula. Plant-based P remediation strategies have been suggested as an environmentally-friendly process to clean the bay. Our objective was to determine the difference in P uptake in various genotypes of corn harvested at milk stage of grain formation in poultry manured enriched soils. Field experiments were conducted during three growing seasons at two sites. One site had a history of heavy poultry manure applications during the last ten years and the other site had not received poultry manure applications.  Results showed that genotypes 57K14 and DKC 64-11 exhibited superior P uptake in both amended and unamended soils. The superior P extraction of genotypes 57K14 and DKC 64-11   relative to that of other genotypes indicates a potential exists to improve P uptake in corn genotypes and also that it is  possible to  use this innovative approach for phytoremediation of soils to sustain the agro-ecosystems.