Improvement in Field Texture Accuracy for Sustainable Agriculture

Abstract

ABSTRACT The improvement in field texture accuracy of 100 soil samples from contrasting parent materials–Coastal Plain Sands (33), Basement Complex (27), and Flood Plain (40)–were studied for sustainable agriculture. The results of improvement in field texture accuracy of the soil scientists used in the study were similar in both years. Absolute accuracy in the subsequent year (A2) increased over the previous year (A1) in descending order: Flood Plain (23%) > Coastal Plain (20%) > Basement Complex (8%). Relative accuracy was highly significant (r = 0.68–0.86, P < 0.001) irrespective of the period of determination (A1 or A2) and the parent material used. Time of determining field texture also reduced considerably in the subsequent year (A2) and for each successive rounds of determination. Reduction in time of soil texture determination per sample (seconds) follows descending order: Basement Complex (4.2) > Flood Plain (2.4) > Coastal Plain (1.2). It was noticed that medium texture soil require less time of determination by feel than heavy or light soils. Wherever heavy and light soils are more accurately determined by feel than medium textured soil. For sustainable agriculture in the global South, Relative Accuracy (cv(%) 4–9) is more reliable and pragmatic for most soil management practices than Absolute Accuracy (cv(%) 7–38).