Abstract
A field experiment was conducted to determine the number of soil samples required to estimate the average residual soil nitrate (NO3 -) in a given field under no-till and conventional tillage conditions. Four soil sampling devices (a 20.3-cm power earth auger, a 5.1-cm hand earth auger, a 3.2-cm soil probe, and a 1.9-cm soil probe) were used to collect soil samples from 35 locations each within the conventionally tilled and no-till fields. Soil samples were analyzed for soil water contents and NO3 - concentrations in the soil for various depths. Simple graphs and tables were constructed which could be used by farmers and other professionals for estimating the average residual soil NO3 - contents at a given confidence level or with a certain degree of risk. The confidence interval was taken as the difference between the highest and lowest value of the quartile range of the observed data. The results of this study indicated that the number of soil samples required to estimate the average residual soil NO3 - contents increased as the degree of risk decreased. This study also indicated that the number of soil samples required for making a reasonable estimate of the residual soil NO3 - contents were greater for a no-till field compared with the conventional tillage field.
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