Abstract: Field experiments were conducted to examine lettuce production in ‘calcareous purple’ soils with six different phosphate (P) levels (0, 45, 90, 135, 180 and 270 kg/ha P₂O₅) at two sites (1. Hanhu village and 2. Hanjin village) in order to investigate effects of the different P fertilizer levels on yield, quality and plant nutrient form in lettuce. Yields of lettuce for the two sites were significantly increased (9.5%-26.7% and 8.1%-21.3%, respectively) by application of P fertilizer and maximum yields were obtained from the P₄ treatment (180 kg P₂O₅/ha). There was a significant quadratic regression relationship between P fertilizer rates and yields of lettuce, the maximum yield and economic optimum application rates were, respectively, 219 and 215 kg/ha (P₂O₅) for site No.1, and 195 and 191 kg/ha for experimental site No.2. Contents of vitamin C, amino acids and soluble sugar of lettuce were reduced in all treatments and in the P₂ treatment were decreased, respectively, by 15.8%, 27.8% and 14.0% for site No.1. At site No. 2, nitrate contents of the lettuce were decreased and vitamin C contents were improved in all treatments and were increased by 6.3% and 20.4% in P₄ and P₅ treatments, respectively. Levels of amino acids and soluble sugar were reduced in all treatments and for the P₄ treatment were decreased by 35.0% and 8.3%, respectively. Nitrate contents were reduced, with the P₂ treatment decreased by 6.9%. The highest contents of total-N and total-P of lettuce were achieved in the P₄ treatment for both experimental sites. With respect to forms of plant nutrients: N, P and K were mainly present as protein-N, non-protein-P and non-protein-K, respectively in the lettuce. K levels correlated more closely with lettuce quality than did N and P levels. Total-K showed a significantly positive correlation with vitamin C and amino acid levels for site No.1, but protein-K showed a negative correlation with vitamin C for site No.2. The maximum P use efficiency was obtained from the P₁ treatment (8.14% and 9.38%, respectively), followed by the P₄ treatment (4.64% and 7.42%, respectively), for the two experimental sites. Overall, from this study, the recommended application rate of P fertilizer for P-deficient ‘calcareous purple soil’ used for vegetable production was 180 kg/ha (P₂O₅) under these conditions.