Investigation of the Effect of Soil Factors on Sugarcane Growth in Sugarcane Cultivated Lands in Khuzestan and Mazandaran Provinces

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of soil characteristics on sugarcane yield and to revise the “Table of Soil and Landscape Requirements for Sugarcane”. For this purpose, 120 points in different areas under sugarcane cultivation in Khuzestan and Mazandaran provinces were studied based on diversity in soil characteristics. Parametric methods were used in this study to determine the land index. For data analysis, multivariate regression by stepwise method and simple regression were used. Sugarcane yield was considered as a dependent variable and factors including salinity, percentage of exchangeable sodium, soil acidity, gypsum, lime, clay, sand and silt, as independent variables. Then, by examining the simple regression between important and effective land characteristics with sugarcane yield, the relevant equations and diagrams were drawn and soil properties were rated by FAO method. The results showed that exchangeable sodium, clay, lime, acidity, and salinity, in decreasing order, had a significant correlation with yield of sugarcane, while and the variables of sand and silt had no significant correlation. Multivariate regression coefficient analysis showed that the variables entered in the model were able to explain 67% of the variance related to the dependent variable. In simple regression equations, soil salinity, exchangeable sodium content, and lime had a decreasing effect on yield. The variables of exchangeable sodium percentage and soil salinity had the greatest effect on sugarcane yield. The proposed table on sugarcane soil and landscape requirements was evaluated and validated by using soil data and yields of 30 sugarcane fields that had not been used to extract this table. The coefficient of determination between the sugarcane yield and the land index was about 0.81, indicating the acceptable accuracy of the table.