Spatial Variability of Soil Physicochemical Properties in Agricultural Fields Cultivated with Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) in Southeastern Mexico

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the spatial variability of the physicochemical properties of an Acrisol soil cultivated with sugarcane to establish specific areas of agronomic management in an area of 100 ha located at Tabasco State, southeastern Mexico. A georeferenced regular grid of 100 m was located for sampling measurements in the field. With the laboratory results of the soil properties, descriptive statistics was carried out, where it was found that P-Olsen, K, Ca, Mg and Zn, presented high variability. In fact, percentage of aluminum saturation (PAS) and Ca presented a medium variability, and the pH, soil organic matter, cation exchange capacity (CEC), clay, lime and sand presented low variability. The geostatistical analysis identified soil properties with high spatial dependence (< 25%)—pH, PAS, MO, K, Zn and sand; and moderate spatial dependence (25–75%)—P-Olsen, Ca, Mg, CEC, lime and clay. The maps generated by ordinary kriging allowed the identification of the field spatial variability for different soil properties, as well as the direction of greater variability of some specific soil properties as a distance function. With these maps, it will possible to generate site-specific recommendations for fertilization and variety depending on each specific management zone, being dolomitic lime dose and different sugarcane cultivars tolerant to acidity, drought and soil excess moisture.