Evaluation of Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) for Estimating Soil Organic Matter and Phosphorus in Mediterranean Montado Ecosystem

João Serrano, Shakib Shahidian, José Marques da Silva, Luís Paixão, Mário de Carvalho, Francisco Moral, Julio Nogales-Bueno, Ricardo F.M. Teixeira, Marjan Jongen, Tiago Domingos and Ana Elisa Rato
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João Serrano: MED—Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
Shakib Shahidian: MED—Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
José Marques da Silva: MED—Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
Luís Paixão: AgroInsider Lda. PITE, R. Circular Norte, NERE, Sala 18, 7005-841 Évora, Portugal
Mário de Carvalho: MED—Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
Francisco Moral: Departamento de Expresión Gráfica, Escuela de Ingenierías Industriales, Universidad de Extremadura Avenida de Elvas s/n, 06006 Badajoz, Spain
Julio Nogales-Bueno: Food Colour and Quality Laboratory, Área de Nutrición y Bromatologia, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Sevilla, 41012 Sevilla, Spain
Ricardo F.M. Teixeira: MARETEC—Marine, Environment and Technology Centre, LARSyS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Marjan Jongen: MARETEC—Marine, Environment and Technology Centre, LARSyS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Ana Elisa Rato: MED—Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: The Montado is an agro-silvo-pastoral ecosystem characteristic of the Mediterranean region. Pasture productivity and, consequently, the possibilities for intensifying livestock production depend on soil fertility. Soil organic matter (SOM) and phosphorus (P 2 O 5 ) are two indicators of the evolution of soil fertility in this ecosystem. However, their conventional analytical determination by reference laboratory methods is costly, time consuming, and laborious and, thus, does not meet the needs of current production systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate an alternative approach to estimate SOM and soil P 2 O 5 based on near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) combined with multivariate data analysis. For this purpose, 242 topsoil samples were collected in 2019 in eleven fields. These samples were subjected to reference laboratory analysis and NIRS analysis. For NIRS, 165 samples were used during the calibration phase and 77 samples were used during the external validation phase. The results of this study showed significant correlation between NIRS calibration models and reference methods for quantification of these soil parameters. The coefficient of determination (R 2 , 0.85 for SOM and 0.76 for P 2 O 5 ) and the residual predictive deviation (RPD, 2.7 for SOM and 2.2 for P 2 O 5 ) obtained in external validation indicated the potential of NIRS to estimate SOM and P 2 O 5 , which can facilitate farm managers’ decision making in terms of dynamic management of animal grazing and differential fertilizer application.

Keywords: spectrometry; soil fertility; soil organic matter; phosphorus; precision agriculture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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