Spatial variability of soil fertility factors in the Xiangcheng tobacco planting region, China

It is essential to understand the spatial variability of soil properties in tobacco planting regions, so that the right decision can be made as to how many fertilizer rates are likely to be appropriated for the high-quality tobacco production. A total of 159 soil samples were taken from the surface soil (0-20cm) in the Xiangcheng tobacco planting fields, Henan Province, in April 2002 to examine the concentration of soil organic matter, pH, available N, available P, and available K. The spatial variability was evaluated using geostatistics and geographic information system (GIS) analyses. The results show that among those five soil fertility factors, the variation coefficient of soil pH was the smallest, while that of available P was the greatest, which resulted from different cultivation methods and uneven fertilization. Analysis of the isotropic variogram indicated that the soil pH, organic matter, and available P semivariogram were well described with spherical models, with the distance of spatial dependence being 21020, 19150, and 8460m, respectively, whereas the available N and available K semivariogram were well described with an exponential model, with the distance of spatial dependence being ranged from 7484 to 25320 m. Soil pH value was strongly spatially dependent with C0/sill being 0.1935, while the other four soil fertility factors were moderately spatially dependent with C0/sill ranging between 0.3528 to 0.5260. Through the Kriging analysis, the spatial distribution maps of soil properties were drawn using the arcview software. This study provides a scientific basis for field management, which targets soil quality improvement in the Xiangcheng tobacco planting region.