Spatial variability of soil properties and yield relationship in a mango crop (Mangifera indica L.).
Valbuena Calderón C. A., Martínez Martínez L. J., Giraldo Henao R.
Author Affiliation: Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota, Colombia.
Revista Brasileira de Fruticultura 30 : 1146-1151
Abstract : In a regular grid with 31 points located with GPS, samples were taken and, based on geostatistics analysis, the spatial variability of soil properties and their relationships with yield of a mango crop were studied in Brazil. It was found that the soil properties and crop yield presented a high, within-field, spatial variability. The range of the semi variance models varied from 10 to 192 m, with the exception of pH and calcium (Ca), the adjusted models showed nugget/sill fraction lower than 30%, thus indicating that most of the process is explained by the structural variation and then better interpolation results could be expected. Potassium, Ca, CIC, Ca + Mg/K fraction, slope and altitude were the most important factors affecting crop yield. The studied method is useful to define management zones within fields and some used criteria, such as altitude and slope, are important for the zoning of larger areas and can be computed from a digital elevation model.