Spatial and temporal variability of soil micronutrients and their relationships with wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield and some major soil variables

Abstract

Studying the spatial and temporal variability of soil micronutrients and their effects on plant growth is important for implementing precision-farming and/or economizing fertilizer management. The present investigation was done through soil sampling (0-20 cm depth) from three locations in central Ethiopia. The tools employed include, descriptive and/or classical statistics. The concentrations of available copper ranged from 1.38-3.20 mg/kg with narrower range in season-I, than season-II. Manganese ranged from 5.00 -65.00 mg/kg, indicating its significant uneven distribution over the years and locations. The concentrations of iron ranged from 1.80 -8.20 mg/kg. Narrower ranges were observed for zinc, boron and molybdenum. From the influencing factors analysis, soil pH was the major factor negatively influenced the availability of the evaluated micronutrients, except molybdenum. Organic carbon was the major positive contributor to sulfur, nitrogen, manganese, zinc, and boron availability. Considering the widely varied wheat yields due to the variations in soil nutrients, more positive relationship was established for the grain than total biomass yield indicating more partitioning of plant nutrients into grains. Overall, the dynamics of soil nutrients, particularly the micronutrients and their influences on wheat yield were described and the results could provide practical bases for sustaining crop production in precision-agriculture.

Patterns of winter wheat ear productivity formation depending on the content of trace elements in the soil

“…Therewith, the scientific literature holds ambiguous assessments of the interdependencies between the content of mobile forms of micronutrients in the soil and the signs of productivity of grain crops. Admittedly, Menna (2022) documented no significant correlations between soil available Cu, Mn, Fe, Zn concentrations and total aboveground biomass or wheat grain yield. It was demonstrated that chitosan nanoparticles in a complex with Zn caused an increase in the content of Zn in grain, without affecting grain yield, protein content, the number of ears in an ear, TKW, etc.…”

Cartographic modeling of soil acidity level of the Zdolbuniv district of the Rivne region

“…The influence of weather conditions on the consumption of nutrients by agricultural plants is quite variable over time, and soil factors are characterised by territorial heterogeneity. Therefore, the issues of spatial and temporal variability of nutrition available to plants have been widely studied recently [6,7,8], as measures to improve it should be as specific and rational as possible. The essence of the methodology of these studies is, as a rule, a comparative analysis of geostatistical data for different periods of time.…”