Soil Attribute Parameterization for Plant‐Specific Evaluation of Cropland Productivity in Hungary

Abstract

The potential of croplands is determined by annual and seasonal variations in the capacity of the soil to supply water and nutrients. This research was aimed at, with use of the available pedological, topographical, and meteorological data, to describe how yield formation is influenced by the major soil attributes determining fertility and to construct a land evaluation model. The aim was also to describe how fertilization influences the fertility of various soils. For this purpose, data on the soil, agrotechnology, and yield of >80,000 fields, representing approximately 4 million ha of arable land, were statistically analyzed over a 5‐yr period (1985–1989). As part of this work, differences between the most common soil types were evaluated, as manifested in the yield data of wheat. This evaluation was backed up by an analysis of the modifying effects of soil texture, lime status, and nitrogen fertilization. The database of a smaller sample area was used to study the fertility of various soil types for various crops, and calculations were made to quantify the fertilizer effect and the effects of soil characteristics. Results confirm that it is worthwhile performing fertility classification based on soil groupings at higher taxonomic levels. Differences in the fertility of soils with more favorable properties within the soil taxonomic units even out at the highest fertilizer rates, whereas soils with poorer properties, treated with lower rates of fertilizer, exhibit far greater differences in fertility. The best way to achieve a complex quantification of the effect of attributes which influence productivity seems to be by differentiating between soil types, taking into consideration the major physical and chemical characteristics of the particular soil units.