SUSPHOS

Sustainable phosporus fertilisation on golf courses

Project start date: April 2017
Projects completion date: December 2021

Facts

Principal investigator (PI):

Trygve S. Aamlid
Norwegian Institute for Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Department for Urban Greening and Environmental Technology, Turfgrass Research Group, Landvik
Reddalsveien 215, 4886 Grimstad.

Phone: +47 90 52 83 78.

E-mail: trygve.aamlid@nibio.no

Co-applicants:

Karin Juul Hesselsøe, NIBIO, Dept. for Urban Greening and Vegetation Ecology, Turfgrass Research Group, Landvik Anne Falk Øgaard, NIBIO Division for Environment and Natural Resources
Tore Krogstad, Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
Micah Woods, Asian Turfgrass Center, Bangkok, Thailand
Yajun Chen, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China
Kim Sintorn, Swedish Golf Federation (from July 2020 Stefan Nilsson)
Niels Dokkuma, Netherlands Golf Federation (from 2019 Koert Donkers)
Wolfgang Prämassing, University of Applied Sciences, Osnabrück, Germany

PDF

SUSPHOS_final report

For handbooks, articles and fact sheets – visit “Library”

Project objectives

Economic savings and lower environmental impact by reduced and more targeted fertilisation with phosphorus (P) according to soil analyses.

Subgoals (corresponding to workpackages (WPs)):
1. Determine the need for extra P fertiliser for turfgrass establishment or re-establishment
on sand-based golf greens with low soil P values and at various temperatures (WP1).
2. Determine the effect on time of green-up and turfgrass quality of foliar or granular
applications of increasing amounts of P at various soil temperatures in spring (WP2).
3. Document effects on turfgrass quality and fertiliser costs of switching from conventional SLAN-based fertilisation to MLSN or SPF-based fertilisation on golf courses representing a range of climate zones, soil types and turfgrass species (WP3).

Project summary and status January 2022

WP1 and WP2 were completed in 2019 (see STERF yearbook for 2019) and published
scientifically in Agronomy Journal in June 2020. WP3: Data were collected in field trials in China, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Germany comparing the three different P fertilisation recommendations: MLSN, SLAN (old American standard), and ‘Scandinavian Precision Fertilization (SPF). The results showed few significant effects on turfgrass quality, which means that switching from SLAN-based fertilisation to MLSN- or SPF-based fertilisation can reduce P use and P losses on putting greens with low sorption capacity for P, without negatively affecting turfgrass quality.

The MLSN recommendation of > 18 mg P/kg soil (Mehlich-3-P) was confirmed for established putting greens under a wide range of climate and management conditions, while the SPF guideline (12 % P relative to N rate) might result in too high P application rates on soils with high Mehlich-3 values, as soil analyses are not considered.

The project was completed in autumn 2021, with a final report accepted by STERF’s board on 16 November 2021. Results were presented in popular and scientific articles, an update of STERF’s handbook on precision fertilisation and a webinar. On 29 October 2021, Anne F. Borchert defended her M.Sc. thesis at Osnabrück University, Germany, based on SUSPHOS WP3. On 28 December 2021, a scientific paper from WP 3 was accepted with minor revisions in International Turfgrass Society Research Journal.

Funding, kSEK

20172018201920202021Total
STERF5255514522582001986
Other sources149177177173124800
Total6747286294313242786
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