(Se) is an important nutrient for human health; thus its content should be appraised in
edible plant parts to satisfy his needs. Its interaction with P in plants is not well identified.
Accordingly, a pot experiment of a complete randomized design was conducted to highlight this effect
using a soil enriched with Se at a rate of 10 mg Se kg-1
. Calcium superphosphate was then added at
three different rates i.e. 6.7, 13.4 and 20.1 mg P kg-1
and all pots were planted with maize seeds (Zea
mays L f16) and incubated under the greenhouse conditions for 60 days; thereafter soils and plant
samples were collected. Generally, maize fresh and dry weights increased significantly owing to
application of P at a rate of 13.4 mg P kg-1
, while decreased with increasing the rate of applied-P.
Likewise, AB-DTPA-Se increased significantly in soil; yet such increases were significant only with
the application of the highest rate of P. In plants, Se uptake decreased significantly with increasing the
rate of applied P. In this concern, there were negative correlations between AB-DTPA extractable Se
and maize fresh and dry weights. In conclusion, P inputs at a rate of 13.4 mg P kg-1
raised significantly
P uptake while diminished the uptake of Se. This probably indicates that P inputs suppress the influx
of Se to plant roots. At higher P rates, both Se and P uptake decreased considerably. This might
indicate that Se underwent co-precipitated with P in soil