Spatial Distribution and Management Zones for Sulphur and Micronutrients in Shiwalik Himalayan Region of India

Abstract

Agricultural land degradation due to nutrient deficiencies is a threat to agricultural sustainability. As nutrients availability is influenced by soil heterogeneity, climatic conditions and anthropogenic activities; hence, delineation of nutrient management zones (MZs) based on spatial variability could be an effective management option at regional scale. Thus, the present study was carried out to delineate MZs in the Shiwalik Himalayan region of India by capturing spatial variability of soil properties and secondary and micronutrients status because of the emerging nutrient deficiencies. For the study, a total of 2575 geo‐referenced representative surface (0–15 cm depth) soil samples were collected from the study region covering an area of 53,483 km2. The soils were analysed for pH, electrical conductivity, soil organic carbon, available sulphur (S) and micronutrients (Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, B and Mo) concentrations. There was a wide variation in soil properties with coefficient of variation values of 14 (for pH) to 86% for available Mo. Geostatistical analysis revealed spherical, Gaussian, exponential, stable, circular and K‐Bessel best‐fit models for soil properties. Most of the soil properties were having moderate spatial dependence except soil pH and S (strong spatial dependence) and Zn (weak spatial dependence). About 49%, 10%, 2%, 13%, 11%, 12% and 8% area of the study region were found to be deficient (including acute and marginal deficiency) in S, Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, B and Mo, respectively. The principal component analysis and fuzzy c‐mean clustering were performed to develop the MZs. Four principal components with eigenvalues greater than 1 and accounting 65·4% of total variance were retained for further analysis. On the basis of fuzzy performance index and normalized classification entropy, four potential MZs were identified. Analysis of variance confirmed the heterogeneity in most of the studied soil properties among the MZs. The study indicated that the methodology of delineating MZs can be effectively used in site‐specific S and micronutrients management in the Shiwalik Himalayan region of India. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluation of spatial distribution and regional zone delineation for micronutrients in a semiarid Deccan Plateau Region of India

“…In soils of northern Ethiopia, low (for pH) and medium variability (for SOC and available Fe) were reported (Tesfahunegn et al, ). Moderate variability for available Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn was recorded by Wang, Wu, Liu, Huang, and Fang () in China's paddy growing soils and by Shukla et al (), Shukla et al () in Indian TGP and SHR soils. However, Foroughifar, Jafarzadeh, Torabi, Pakpour, and Miransari () recorded high variability for available Fe and moderate variability for available Cu, Mn, and Zn in Dasht‐e‐Tabriz soils of Iran.…”

“…Our finding is similar to the results reported by Shukla et al () who recorded the mean values of 1.66, 1.37, 12.20, and 10.30 mg/kg for available Zn, Cu, Fe, and Mn concentrations, respectively in soils of Indian TGP region. Shukla et al () also reported the mean concentration of 2.24, 1.49, 19.01, and 36.76 mg/kg soil for plant available Zn, Cu, Mn, and Fe, respectively, in the soils of SHR of India. Soil properties exhibited low (only soil pH) to moderate (rest of soil properties) variability with <10, 10 to 100 and > 100% of CV values indicating variability to the extent of low, moderate, and high degree, respectively (Nielsen & Bouma, ).…”

“…Since soils are highly heterogeneous and distribution of soil properties (Behera & Shukla, ; Bogunovic, Pereira, & Brevik, ) and Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn concentrations in soils varies spatially (Fageria et al, ; Pereira & Ubeda, ; Shukla et al, ; Shukla et al, ), blanket application of these nutrients leads to imbalanced addition of Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn (Ferguson, Lark, & Slater, ). Thus, the balanced and site‐specific management through varied nutrient application rate holds the key for economically sustainable agricultural production (Behera et al, ; Tesfahunegn, Tamene, & Vlek, ).…”

“…Out of several methods and techniques, principal component (PC) analysis along with fuzzy c ‐means algorithm have been used by several researchers (Behera, Mathur, Shukla, Suresh, & Prakash, ; Ferguson et al, ; Xin‐Zhong et al, ) for MZ delineation based on soil properties. Shukla et al () and Shukla et al () reported distribution variability of micronutrients in Shiwalik Himalayan Region (SHR) and Trans‐Gangetic Plains (TGP) region of India for region wise micronutrient management. However, information regarding regional scale micronutrient management in DPR of India is limited.…”

Challenges in Using Precision Agriculture to Optimize Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes: Progress, Limitations, and Future Improvements Needed in Diagnostic Testing

“…Even in developed countries, a single soil test for Mo can be expensive. Currently, soil micronutrient mapping (e.g., B and Mo) is performed through chemical analysis of the soil samples [110], which have a very low probability of becoming the basis of precision agriculture based diagnostics. Instead, major technical advances are needed to develop low-cost in situ-based methods to diagnose field level variability in relevant micronutrients (e.g., spectroscopic) ( Table 2), allowing variable-rate micronutrient application to optimize SNF.…”