The Role of Digital Soil Information in Assisting Precision Soil Management

Birhanu Iticha (), Muhammad Kamran, Rui Yan, Dorota Siuta (), Abdulrahman Al-Hashimi, Chalsissa Takele, Fayisa Olana, Bożena Kukfisz, Shehzad Iqbal and Mohamed S. Elshikh
Additional contact information
Birhanu Iticha: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Muhammad Kamran: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Rui Yan: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Dorota Siuta: Faculty of Process and Environmental Engineering, Lodz University of Technology, Wolczanska Str. 213, 90-924 Lodz, Poland
Abdulrahman Al-Hashimi: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Chalsissa Takele: Soil Fertility Improvement and Problematic Soil Management Research Team, Nekemte Soil Research Center, Oromia Agricultural Research Institute, Nekemte P.O. Box 81265, Ethiopia
Fayisa Olana: Department of Research and Scientific, International Fertilizer Development Center, Addis Ababa P.O. Box 5689, Ethiopia
Bożena Kukfisz: Faculty of Security Engineering and Civil Protection, The Main School of Fire Service, Slowackiego Street 52/54, 01-629 Warsaw, Poland
Shehzad Iqbal: College of Plant Sciences and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, China
Mohamed S. Elshikh: Department of Botany and Microbiology, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: Soil information is the basis for the site-specific management of soils. The study aimed to digitize soil information and classify it into soil mapping units (SMUs) using geostatistics. The study area was grouped into 12 SMUs, or management zones. The pH of the soils ranged from 7.3 in SMU2 to 8.6 in SMU5. Most SMUs exhibited low total nitrogen (TN) that could be attributed to very low soil organic carbon (SOC) in the soils. Available phosphorus (AvP) was very low in all the mapping units. The exchangeable K varied between 0.12 cmol(+) kg −1 (SMU7) and 0.95 cmol(+) kg −1 (SMU10). SMU12 was identified as marginally sodic and at a high risk of developing severe alkalinity unless possible management measures are implemented. Our findings show that a lack of soil information causes an imbalance between soil requirements and external nutrient inputs, negatively affecting crop production. Therefore, high-resolution digital soil information can assist the site-specific application of soil nutrients and amendments based on spatial variability in line with soil requirements.

Keywords: soil survey; geostatistical analysis; digital soil mapping; spatial soil variability; management zone; nutrient management; soil salinity; site-specific management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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