Mussoorrie rock phosphate (MRP), MRP + pyrite (25% by weight), diammonium phosphate (DAP), ammonium polyphosphate (APP) and nitrophosphate (NP) were compared in a field experiment as fertilizers for wheat. At 20 kg P ha−1, MRP was only 6 per cent as effective as DAP. However, when it was mixed with pyrite, the efficiency of MRP increased to 64 per cent at 20 kg P ha−1 compared with 97 per cent at 40 kg P ha−1. The P requirement for a targeted yield for 4.5 t ha−1 decreased from 39.4 kg P ha−1 as MRP to 23.7 kg P ha−1 as MRP + pyrite. Of the other P fertilizers studied, NP was as effective as DAP, whereas APP was 9 to 37 per cent more effective than DAP. However, the P requirement as DAP, NP and APP for a targeted yield of 4.5 t ha−1 was similar (11 ± 0.5 kg P ha−1).