Abstract
Objectives: To assess the soil heterogenicity and mapping of spatial distribution of soil fertility indicators for efficient nutrient management in apple orchards using geostatistical tool. Methods: Soil samples were collected from 50 apple orchards in district Ziarat where 20 from Ziarat and 30 from Sanjavi tehsil. GPS locations were marked at each orchard. Four soil cores were dug below each of the 8 apple tree canopy and composited into one sample. The samples were air-dried, ground, sieved through 2 mm sieve and analyzed for soil texture, organic matter, pH, EC, macro (N, P and K) and micro (Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) nutrients. Descriptive statistics was carried out using Microsoft Excel. Geostatistical analysis was conducted by ArcGIS 8.1. Findings: Texturally, soil of the apple orchards were grouped into silt loam, sandy loam and loam where silt loam was dominant class as 82% samples were silt loam. Soil was non-saline (0.42 dSm-1) and have pH in alkaline ranges (7.71-8.45) with average value of 7.93. Kjeldhal’s N, AB-DTPA extractable nutrients i.e. P, K, Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn were in the range of 0.02-0.15%, 0.26-9.41, 21.0-203.60, 0.21-1.35, 0.25-6.29, 0.41-65.97 and 1.80-27.01 mgkg-1 respectively. Most of the orchards (54%) expressed soil organic matter in adequate range and 46% orchards\' soil showed medium level TN. Low level P, K and Fe was noted in 72, 50 and 74% orchards\' soil. The findings of geostatistical analysis showed that Soil pH, Cu and Mn had a weak spatial autocorrelation. While TN, and Zn had a medium whereas P, K and Fe had a higher spatial autocorrelation. Novelty: This research study provides procedural input for precise utilization of fertilizers as per soil properties of the area with minimum wastage and greater output. Keywords apple orchard, geostatistics, plant nutrients, soil properties, spatial variability
Highlights
Apple has prominent place in fruits crops globally and are grown on 4.72 million ha with production of 87.24 million tons[1]
A group of researchers in Greece studied the spatial variability of soil texture along with other soil properties in apple orchards and noted moderate spatial autocorrelation for clay and silt and weak spatial autocorrelation for sand [40]
The statistical analysis revealed that soils of apple orchards were mostly silty loam, non-saline and alkaline
Summary
Apple has prominent place in fruits crops globally and are grown on 4.72 million ha with production of 87.24 million tons[1]. In Pakistan, apples are generally grown in hilly areas and the major contribution come from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces. In comparison to the neighboring and developed countries the average apple production (6.75 tons ha-1) in Pakistan is quite low that can be attributed to poor soil functions due to calcareousness and alkaline nature coupled with low organic matter. These factors are responsible for affecting the availability of macro and micronutrients in the soil [3,4], and have caused deficiencies of N, Fe and Zn which are prevailing in the entire apple growing regions of Balochistan
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