Which P inputs are compatible with a sustainable agriculture at short and long-term?

During the past 20 years, there has been a constant reduction in mineral fertilizer use due to price increases and environmental concerns. These changes can lead to a decrease in soil P content, which is already observed in some regions in Wallonia. Some new issues are now emerging. Is current cropping systems compatible with yield maintenance? Do organic fertilizers have a similar effect than mineral fertilizers? To answer to these questions, a short-term experiment in controlled conditions and 2 long-term experimental plots were studied. The short-term experiment permitted to study the kinetics of P after an input and differences between fertilizer types, whereas the long-term experiments studied 3 levels of P and K input and different organic compounds. Although an evolution of P content was observed, no difference of yield was found before about 20 years. However, after 47 years, available P levels were considered as low in zero P-input plots and attention must now be focused on these parcels. Zero P-input caused a mean yield decrease of 7%, while a double input increased yield by 2% in comparison to plots with input corresponding to crop export. Thus the zero P-input option is rarely economically profitable in the long-term and providing double the amount of P removed is never financially sustainable. Finally, no difference of P content was observed between organic and mineral fertilizers, except for manure which engendered a higher P content. In conclusion, organic and inorganic fertilizers had a relatively similar effect and overlooking P fertilizer is possible in the short-term but P content has to be followed at the long-term, although yield loss was limited