'Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (RCOG)'
Abstract
Not AvailableProblem definition: Spatial information on salinity is required at the farm level to
enable suitable soil, crop and water management practices.
Rationale: To facilitate this, we used an electromagnetic (EM) induction instrument
for rapid measurement of apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa—mS m–1) across
the 11 ha area of the Central Soil Salinity Research Institute experimental farm in
Nain, Haryana, India.
Methods: The ECa was measured using an EM38 in horizontal (ECah) and vertical
(ECav) modes on a grid survey. Using the ECa data, we selected 21 locations using
the response surface sampling design (RSSD) module of Electrical Conductivity
Sampling Assessment and Prediction (ESAP) software. We collected soil samples at
four depth increments, including two topsoil (0–0.15 and 0.15–0.30 m), a subsurface
(0.3–0.6m) and a subsoil (0.6–0.9m) and measured the soil electrical conductivity
(ECe—dS m–1).
Results: We developed multiple linear regression to predict ECe using the ESAP
software from ECah and ECav and two trend surface parameters (i.e., Easting and
Northing) across the farm. The prediction accuracy and bias were compared at different
depth increments, and results of the spatial distributions of ECe using ordinary
kriging (OK) interpolation were described in terms of the crop and soil use and management
implications.
Conclusions: We conclude the overall approach allows for generations of a digital
soil maps (DSMs) of ECe which serve as baseline data that will allow the monitoring
of any rehabilitation effort of salt-affected
soils according to their actual degree of
salinity.ICAR-CSSR
