Delineation of nutrient management zones in Chunian using soil attributes database developed by soil fertility research institute, Punjab, Pakistan
A significant increase in food production, approximately 70%, is needed to feed the estimated 9.1 billion world population by 2050. Site-specific nutrient management through adoption of Precision Agriculture (PA) technologies can potentially increase crop productivity while keeping the use of chem...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Soil Science Society of Pakistan (SSSP)
2018-12-01
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| Series: | Soil & Environment |
| Online Access: | http://se.org.pk/File-Download.aspx?archivedpaperid=833 |
| Summary: | A significant increase in food production, approximately 70%, is needed to feed the estimated 9.1
billion world population by 2050. Site-specific nutrient management through adoption of Precision
Agriculture (PA) technologies can potentially increase crop productivity while keeping the use of chemical
fertilizers at its minimum required level. In this study, agricultural land of tehsil Chunian was delineated
into management zones using georeferenced soil attributes database developed by Soil Fertility Research
Institute (SFRI), Punjab. Appropriate number of zones was determined after conducting fuzzy c -means
unsupervised clustering analysis by using Management Zone Analyst (MZA) software and finally Quantum
Geographic Information System (QGIS) was used to differentiate study area into five zones. Analysis of
variance was performed to verify whether these defined zones reflect soil attributes. We concluded that
tehsil Chunian could be categorized into five statistically different management zones based on soil
electrical conductivity (EC), pH, soil organic matter (SOM), available potassium and available phosphorus
levels. The highest crop yield was predicted in southeastern parts of tehsil Chunian represented by
management zone-2 (4.4 t ha-1) followed by zone-1 (4.3 t ha-1). Whereas, northern and northwest areas
were predicted with decreasing trend of wheat yield (zone-5, 3.7 t ha-1; zone-4, 4.0 t ha-1), respectively. We
found that MZA and QGIS software could be used as supportive tools for making informed-decisions and the
database of soil attributes developed by SFRI would serve as primary source of information for adoption of
PA technology in coming years. |
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| ISSN: | 2074-9546 2075-1141 |