Phosphorus (P) fertilizers are critical to crop production and global food security. Strengthening intensive agricultural production will also increase the demand for P fertiIizers. Irrational phosphorus nutrient management practices often fail to match of P fertilizer type, soil P transformation and crop P demand, lead to increased accumulation of legacy P, reduced PUE, and pollution, affecting crop production. Soil P availability can reflect crop P uptake and utilization to a certain extent but depends on the dynamic changes of various P fractions in soils. Plant P absorption and utilization are affected by the different soil P fractions. Classifying the different soil P fractions can quantify and explain changes in soil P pool characteristics and bioavailability. Although total P is abundant in most soils, a large amount of P is not easily absorbed by plants. Inorganic phosphate (Pi) is the plant-available P, which is generally immobile and of low availability in soils. Hence, Pi starvation is a major constraint limiting plant growth and productivity. Enhancing plant P efficiency can be achieved by improving P acquisition efficiency (PAE) through modification of morpho physiological and biochemical alteration in root traits that enable greater acquisition of external Pi from soils.