Evaluating crop response and environmental impact of the accumulation of phosphorus due to long-term manuring of vertisol soil in northern China

•Long-term continuous excessive application of manure is not sustainable and has a high P pollution risk.•Straw incorporation is a recommendable management.•Different responses of soil P availability to P accumulation under different fertilizations. The availability of soil phosphorus (P) is one of the key factors that regulate crop productivity. Fertilization practices with P fertilizers carry a high risk of non-point environmental pollution due to water run-off and leaching. The present work discusses data from a 29-year (1982–2011) fertilization experiment with wheat–soybean rotation. Its aim was to quantify and evaluate the dynamic of soil P availability in relation to P accumulation, crop yield, and environmental safety in northern China. This study included six treatments with four field replicates: CK (no fertilizer), NPK (mineral fertilizers), 1/2SNPK (mineral fertilizers plus 50% wheat straw return), SNPK (mineral fertilizers plus 100% wheat straw return), PMNPK (mineral fertilizers plus pig manure), and CMNPK (mineral fertilizers plus cattle manure). Continual additional application of farmyard manure (i.e., PMNPK and CMNPK) produced significantly (P