Phosphorus uptake efficiency of the whole plant
(roots and shoots) is presented in Table 4. Phosphorus uptake efficiency was highest at the low
level of soil P and decreased with increasing soil P
levels. This means that, in the classical mode of
plant response to increasing nutrient supply, the
greatest amounts of dry matter produced per unit
of absorbed P were at the lowest level of P supply.
As the concentration of P in the growth medium
was increased, P uptake increased (Table 2), but
less dry matter was produced for each additional
unit of absorbed P. Similar results were obtained by
Fageria (1974) for P uptake efficiency of rice grown
in solution culture. This may be related to P uptake
rate.