Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Spatial variability of soil nutrients in tobacco planting region on slant plain in the east side of Funiushan mountain in central China using geostatistics

Author(s):

Haisheng Chen

Recieved Date: 2013-07-15, Accepted Date: 2013-10-08

Abstract:

It is essential to understand spatial variability of soil properties in tobacco planting regions, for the right decision can be made as to how many fertilizer rates are likely appropriate for the high quality tobacco production. Uniform management results in over application in areas with high nutrient levels and under application in areas with low nutrient levels .The objective of this study was to quantify the degree of spatial variability of soil properties .This is important to tobacco quality across flue-cured tobacco plantation fields. In this paper, a total of 159 soil samples were taken from surface soil (0 - 20) of Xiangcheng tobacco planting fields, Henan province in April 2002 for examining the concentration of soil organic matter, pH, available N, available P and available K. Spatial variability of above mentioned was evaluated using geostatistics and geographic information system (GIS) analyses. The objective of this study was to provide a scientific basis for field management targeting at improving soil quality in this tobacco planting region. The results showed that among those five soil fertility factors, the variation coefficient of soil pH is the smallest, while that of available P is the greatest, which demands more samples under the same precisions, which are resulted from different cultivation methods and uneven fertilization. Analysis of the isotropic variogram indicated that the soil pH, organic matter and available P semi-variogram were well described with spherical models, with the distance of spatial dependence being 21020, 19150 and 8460 m, respectively, while the available N and available K semi-variogram were well described with exponential model, with the distance of spatial dependence being ranged from 7484 to 25320 m. Soil pH value was strongly spatially dependence with C₀/sill being 0.1935, while other four soil fertility factors were moderately spatial dependent with C₀/sill being ranged from 0.3528 to 0.5260. With the kriging analysis, the spatial distribution maps of soil properties in this tobacco planting region were drawn with Arcview software.

Keywords:

Geostatistics, spatial variability, flue-cured tobacco, soil fertility factor

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2013
Volume: 11
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 2664-2668

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