Chemical Characteristics of Dryland Soils from Aceh Besar Regency As A Fertilizer Design Reference

Abstract

Although the potential for dry agricultural land in Aceh Besar Regency is very wide, but the development of existing food crops is still low. There is a few information about the quality of soil chemical content in dry agricultural land effect to the development of crop productions. This study aims to provide information on the characteristics of soil chemical elements, Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium on agricultural lands in Aceh Besar regency in the form of a map. This study was conducted using the analysis of variant tests method and spatial analysis. It covered some types of data, namely: Aceh Besar maps, administration data, soil type, topography and land use map that have been collected into a mapping of land use unit. The first stage in this study was collection of soil samples at predetermined location points with a depth of 0 to 30 cm and 30 to 60 cm. After the soil samples were obtained, analysis of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium elements in the soil chemical laboratory was carried out. The classification and factors found in soil chemistry analysis affected the content of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium in the soil. Analysis of variant tests showed that the type of soil did not have any influence on the content of Phosphorus and Potassium elements. While the sampling depth of 0 to 30 cm masked the impact on Nitrogen elements. On the other hand, land use only affected Phosphorus elements. Soil’s chemicals content had different levels. In this case, the value of Nitrogen content spread across 12 sampling points locations. as much as 91% of the available Nitrogen content is very low, while 50% of the available Phosphorous content is very low, then 8.3% of the available Potassium content were very low, and 25% of the available Potassium content were low. The mapping of soil chemical elements classification can provide information on the content of soil chemistry Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium available in Aceh Besar Regency.