Spatial Relationships of Soil Physical Attributes with Yield and Lateral Shoot Growth of Garlic

Abstract

Some compaction states cause changes in soil structure, resulting in increased soil density and soil resistance to penetration (RP). The objective of this study was: a) to analyze the variability of the studied attributes of the plant and the soil; b) define the linear and spatial correlations between plant and soil attributes; and c) to identify the best attributes that correlate spatially with garlic yield (GY) and lateral shoot growth (LSG) for the elaboration of spatial variability maps. The attributes evaluated were GY, apparent soil electrical conductivity (EC), mechanical resistance to penetration (MRP), soil volumetric moisture (SVM), plant water potential (WP), and LSG. The reach values of spatial dependence to be considered in future studies using the same attributes should be between 8 m for apparent soil EC and 23 m for RP. From a spatial point of view, garlic LSG could be estimated by indirect cokriging with soil RP. Values greater than 3000 kPa of soil RP indicated the sites with the lowest GYs.