Evaluación de los índices de calidad del suelo de diversos cultivos en diferentes condiciones topográficas, parroquia el Progreso-El Oro.

Abstract

Soil quality is a valuation tool that facilitates the application of management practices that promote sustainable agronomic systems. The objective is to characterize various land uses based on various physical-chemical properties of the soil and to estimate a soil quality index for various crops in different topographic. The study was carried out in three land uses that were Banana, Young and Ripe Cocoa located in the El Progreso belonging to the Canton of Pasaje-El Oro, with a tropical megathermal climate and an irregular topography. Fifteen soil samples were taken from the stratum (0 to 0.10 cm). An analysis of the physical and chemical variables of the soil was carried out. The variables that presented incompatibilities were put to a principal component analysis to select the minimum data set (MDS) of the components that explained the greatest variability and redundancy was verified from the correlation. The SQI was obtained from the average of the standardized indicators (0 to 1), the higher the SQI value the better the land quality of the land use. The selected physical variables were bulk density and contents of sand, silt and clay; while the chemical variables were soil pH, Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Iron, Manganese, Iron, Copper and Zinc.