Effects of citrate and tartrate on phosphate adsorption and desorption from kaolinite, goethite, amorphous Al-oxide and Ultisol were studied. P adsorption was significantly decreased as the concentration of the organic anions increased from 10-5 to 10-1 M. At 0.1 M and pH 7.0, tartrate decreased P adsorption by 27.6% - 50.6% and citrate by 37.9 - 80.4%, depending on the kinds of adsorbent. Little Al and/ or Fe were detected in the equilibrium solutions, even at the highest concentration of the organic anions. Effects of the organic anions on phosphate adsorption follow essentially the competitive adsorption mechanism.The selectivity coefficients for competitive adsorption can be used to compare the effectiveness of different organic anions in reducing P adsorption under given conditions.Phosphate desorption was increased by 3 to 100 times in the presence of 0.001 M citrate or tartrate compared to that in 0.02 M KC1 solution alone. However, for all the soil and clay minerals studied the amount of P desor Effects of citrate and tartrate on phosphate adsorption and desorption from kaolinite, goethite, amorphous Al-oxide and Ultisol were studied. P adsorption was significantly decreased as the concentration of the organic anions increased from 10-5 to 10-1 M. At 0.1 M and pH 7.0, tartrate decreased P adsorption by 27.6% - 50.6% and citrate by 37.9 - 80.4%, depending on the kinds of adsorbent. Little Al and / or Fe were detected in the equilibrium solution, even at the highest concentration of the organic anions. Effects of the organic anions on phosphate adsorption follow essentially the competitive adsorption mechanism. The selectivity for competitive adsorption can can used to compare the effectiveness of different organic anions in reducing P adsorption under given conditions. Phosphate desorption was increased by 3 to 100 times in the presence of 0.001 M citrate or tartrate compared to that in 0.02 M KC1 solution alone. However, for all the soil and clay minerals studied the amount of P desor