Spatial variability of organic matter in soils cropped with Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.

Abstract

The research work was developed in the Agricultural Company “Valle del Yabú”, located at north of Santa Clara municipality, Villa Clara province. The objective was to characterize the spatial variability of organic matter in soils cropped with sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam. cv. INIVIT B-2005), on Cambisol soils. Soil samples were collected in 2016 at two levels: 1) landscape (different agricultural areas) and 2) specific fields. The soil samples were air-dried at room temperature until constant weight was obtained and the conventional chemical analysis was carried out with the Walkley-Black method to determine the percentage of organic matter. The existing concentrations in the agricultural areas were assessed with scale and its spatial variability was compared by means of the coefficient of variation (CV) and the Aweto scale. The data was processed with the statistical functions included in the Microsoft Excel 2007 Analysis Tools Pack. The results showed that the spatial variability of soil organic matter was in the low to moderate range with variation coefficients of 22.52 to 30.55 % in the edaphic landscape and from 19.13 to 37 % in the specific fields analyzed.

Keywords

• chemical analysis
• crop
• soil fertility