Nice question  Seema...

Lets debate about zeolite as one amendment as well as source of plant nutrient .  Zeolite has been utilized since the mid 1980s both as feed additives and as amendments to sand-based soils. Their ability to capture and hold NH4+ and K+ ions enhances plant establishment while reducing nutrient leaching (Goatley, 2011).  The urea N losses can be reduced using Zeolite as additives in the fertilizers or in the soils to control the retention and release of NH4+ ammonium (Rehakova, 2004).

Zeolite itself carries only small amounts of plant nutrients. Their use in crop production stems primarily from their high nutrient-exchange capacities, which allow them to absorb and release plant available nutrients and moisture without any change in the nature of the Zeolite. Zeolite enhances the performance of fertilizers by making them resistant to leaching, immobilization, and gaseous losses. They are particularly useful in reducing leaching in sandy soils. In one study, 4-8 tons of Zeolite per acre was applied. Yield increases were reported for wheat at 14%, eggplant at 19%-55%, carrots at 63%, and apples at 13%-38% (Suthuraman, 2008).

Abstract: Soil fertility and leaching losses of nutrients were compared between a Fimic Anthrosol and a Xanthic Ferralsolfrom Central Amazônia. The Anthrosol was a relict soil from pre-Columbian settlements with high organic Ccontaining large proportions of black carbon. It was further tested whether charcoal additions among other organic and inorganic applications could produce similarly fertile soils as these archaeological Anthrosols. In the first experiment, cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) was planted in pots, while in the second experiment lysimeters

were used to quantify water and nutrient leaching from soil cropped to rice (Oryza sativa L.). The Anthrosol showed significantly higher P, Ca, Mn, and Zn availability than the Ferralsol increasing biomass production of both cowpea and rice by 38–45% without fertilization (P < 0.05). The soil N contents were also higher in the Anthrosol but the wide C-to-N ratios due to high soil C contents led to immobilization of N. Despite the generally high nutrient availability, nutrient leaching was minimal in the Anthrosol, providing an explanation for their sustainable fertility. However, when inorganic nutrients were applied to the Anthrosol, nutrient leaching exceeded the one found in the fertilized Ferralsol. Charcoal additions significantly increased plant growth and nutrition. While N availability in the Ferralsol decreased similar to the Anthrosol, uptake of P, K, Ca, Zn, and Cu by the plants increased with higher charcoal additions. Leaching of applied fertilizer N was significantly reduced by charcoal, and Ca and Mg leaching

was delayed. In both the Ferralsol with added charcoal and the Anthrosol, nutrient availability was elevated with the exception of N while nutrient leaching was comparatively low. Source ; Lehmann et al 2003,Plant and Soil 249: 343–357, 2003.

Hope , you find them useful...

@ Anoop Srivastava.....very helpful indeed!!! Zeolite as an amendment is promising true...exploring traditional bio formulations and their effect on leaching can be one promising goal... don't know if some work has been done elsewhere 

Are you asking about AGRICULTURE soils, RANGELAND soils, harvested FOREST soils or pristine WILDLAND soils?  Makes a huge difference if the soils are being disturbed or not, and how much, and are they being irrigated or not? 

In general adding carbon to the soil acts as a sponge to conserve nutrients, and provide a slower release.  Like mulch, compost, biochar, manures, etc. can all act as the carbon sponges that soils need to keep nutrients from leaching.

Hello Craig ...thanks for the input. We are focusing here on agricultural/horticulture soils. Though the input is not limited to that. True carbon acts as a binding agent/sink. And we would like to know which source shall serve this purpose best ?

Farmers typically use fertilizers with nitrogen (N), P and potassium (K) combined. As a result, the P is often applied at higher rates than plants demand as fertilizer application rates are based on plant N requirements. Because P is so persistent when bound to soil particles, it leads to a build up of P in the soil. During heavy rain or irrigation events, P can be lost via erosion attached to fine particles or as bioavailable orthophosphate when a soil’s capacity to bind P is surpassed, causing contamination of nearby freshwater through runoff.

Fortunately, P is generally immobile in soils — unless the particles themselves move — and it binds tightly to iron (Fe) and aluminum (Al) hydroxides. In soils high in Fe and Al, P will quickly bind to available sites and remain bound until, in the case of Fe, conditions change such as pH increases above 8 or oxygen levels drop and the system becomes anoxic. This is a rare occurrence in a well-managed field. Aluminum, on the other hand, will continue to bind P across a greater range of soil conditions.

Using this principle, a simple test called the Phosphorus Saturation Index (PSI) has been used to predict mobility of P in fields. The PSI is based on the ratio of P to Fe and Al that is extractable from a soil sample using a solution of ammonium oxalate, a buffer and oxalic acid, a dilute acid. It involves shaking a sample of soil for four hours in the solution, filtering the liquid from the solids, then measuring the amount of atoms, expressed as molar concentration, of P as a ratio to Fe and Al in the solution (Sparks, 1996). The higher the PSI, the higher the probability P will be bioavailable and mobile in the soil, potentially causing eutrophication downstream.How does such PSI test operate successfully under soils treated with different amendments , especially organic manures..?

Source : Katrina Mendrey BioCycle March 2013, Vol. 54, No. 3, p. 36

@ Anoop Srivastava. "If the biography of elements could be written, the chapters on Phosphorus would be the biggest and most elaborate"  very true. P behaves in a way that makes it most important. We have tested organic manures from traditional manures that were rich in PSM ie Phosphate solubilising microorganisms and also the pools of available and total P. PSI can serve a very important analytical approach there. Can I have access to the exact protocol of this test? 

I think your experimental design would be the critical point of your study to think about. I would follow Dr. Liu's ex situ design that he used in the Journal of Chemical Ecology October 1993, Volume 19, Issue 10, pp 2217–2230 "Biologically active secondary metabolites of barley. I. Developing techniques and assessing allelopathy in barley"

He planted his barley crop in boxes, with drains at the bottom to catch the water going through the soil.  Maybe a box 50 cm deep and at least 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters, with a single drain to catch soil-water, to measure actual leaching of nutrients?

I think you will see a direct relationship between the amount of carbon you add to your experiment, to a straight-line decrease in leaching of nutrients.  

We have been so afraid of CO2 causing Global Warming, but it is what our croplands needs to stop nutrient leaching, and we just need to learn how to put that carbon back into our soils, using the most efficient methods.

Personally I am restoring native grasslands in California and low soil organic matter is always a huge problem like at http://www.ecoseeds.com/kims.html, so one method is to grow a crop just to add organic matter.

Or if the soils are really poor in organic matter, then plant every other crop just to add organic matter.  I plan to use this method for my project in Haiti, that you can see at http://www.haitiag.org.

Contact Dr Akponikpe from Université de Parakou at [email protected]

@Jonas thank you for the valuable input

Hi, Seema-

Here are some articles that cover research in nutrient leaching and soil amendments. 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880916302274

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16634232

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653512007709

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706112003382

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706113001365