Spatial Variability of Soil Properties and Its Effect on Maize Yields within Field—A Case Study in Hungary
(2022) Agronomy — Vol. 12, n° 2, p. 395 (2022)
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- Authors
Nyéki, Anikó 
- Abstract
- To better understand the potential of soils, understanding how soil properties vary over time and in-field is essential to optimize the cultivation and site-specific technologies in crop production. This article aimed at determining the within-field mapping of soil chemical and physical properties, vegetation index, and yield of maize in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2013, and 2017, respectively. The objectives of this five-year field study were: (i) to assess the spatial and temporal variability of attributes related to the maize yield; and (ii) to analyse the temporal stability of management zones. The experiment was carried out in a 15.3 ha research field in Hungary. The soil measurements included sand, silt, clay content (%), pH, phosphorous (P2O5), potassium (K2O), and zinc (Zn) in the topsoil (30 cm). The apparent soil electrical conductivity was measured in two layers (0–30 cm and 30–90 cm, mS/m) in 2010, in 2013, and in 2017. The soil properties and maize yields were evaluated in 62 management zones, covering the whole research area. The properties were characterized as the spatial-temporal variability of these parameters and crop yields. Classic statistics and geostatistics were used to analyze the results. The maize yields were significantly positively correlated (r = 0.62–0.73) with the apparent electrical conductivity (Veris_N3, Veris_N4) in 2013 and 2017, and with clay content (r = 0.56–0.81) in 2002, 2013, and 2017.
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Citations
Nyéki, A., Daroczy, B. Z., Kerepesi, C., Neményi, M., & Kovács, A. J. (2022). Spatial Variability of Soil Properties and Its Effect on Maize Yields within Field—A Case Study in Hungary. Agronomy, 12(2), 395. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12020395 (Original work published 2022)