Assessing the spatial variability of the soil properties in geologically complex Jawali region of north-west Himalaya, India

ABSTRACT

The quantification of soil properties and their spatial distribution is imperative for increasing crop productivity and suggesting the appropriate management strategies. The present study is based upon the hypothesis that the geologically complex landscape of the Indian Himalayan Region may lead to the varied distribution of the soil properties. This study appraises the influence of complex geological environment on some of the selected soil properties, viz., soil pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and diethylene triamine penta acetic acid-extractable micronutrients, viz., zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn) and copper (Cu) by delineating their spatial dependency using the geostatistical approach. The surface maps were prepared using the ordinary kriging technique along with semivariogram modelling. The value of the coefficient of variation for the calculated soil properties ranged from low to high (10.99% to 62.83%), indicating the heterogeneous application of fertilisers, management practices and land-use pattern. The principal component analysis aggregates the variability into four principal components. The nugget-to-sill ratio of soil properties, ranging from 25% to 75%, indicates the moderate dependency. The surface maps represent the influence of the complex geological environment on the spatial distribution of soil physico-chemical properties. The results also reveal that the variations in the soil properties were mainly due to the combined effect of intrinsic as well as extrinsic factors. The spatial distribution maps can be used for site-specific nutrient intervention for better resource management and environmental protection.

KEYWORDS:

• Geologically complex environment
• geostatistical approach
• parent rock
• site-specific nutrient management

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Department of Soil Science, Palampur and Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, India, for lab. facilities. The authors also acknowledge the feedback and constructive inputs of the anonymous reviewers who considerably improved the quality of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This study is financially supported by project entitled “AICRP on micro- and secondary nutrients and pollutant elements in soils and plants” with the grant number [ICAR-048-15(V)].