PJB-2022-183
Spatial Distribution of Soil and Cotton Plant Macronutrientin the Representative Soil Series of Rahim Yar Khan District, Pakistan, II: Phosphorus
Ejaz Rafique
Abstract
Phosphorous is the second major nutrient essential for plant growth. A wide spread deficiency of phosphorous in the soils and it recommendation on the uniform province basis leads to over or under fertilization and thus yield losses. Efficient nutrient management using GIS and geo-statistics is vital for ensuring optimum crop production. A field survey was conducted for indexing P content in soils of cotton producing area using geo- statistics and GIS as diagnostic tools. Seventy geo-referenced soil and foliage samples were collected from the surface soils (0-15 cm)of representative soils series of the cotton producing district Rahim Yar Khan. Overall, P content varied from 1.5 mg kg-1 to 7.1 mg kg-1. On an average, 60% of the sampled fields were deficient, 39% moderately deficient and 1% adequate in P supplies. Ten out of 16 soil series exhibited mean P content less than critical level. Spatial structure of the bioavailable and plant P was best described by spherical model.Moderate to strong spatial dependence of phosphorus content provided an opportunity to prepare contour maps for classifying the whole area in to various zones on the basis of having differential phosphorous content levels for regional scale information and its management.
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