The Development of a Model for Recommending the Application of Zinc Fertilizer in the Mediterranean Region of Central Ch
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The Development of a Model for Recommending the Application of Zinc Fertilizer in the Mediterranean Region of Central Chile Osvaldo Salazar 1 & Augusto Manrique 2 & Yasna Tapia 1 & Manuel Casanova 1 & Joseph Govan 1 & José I. Covarrubias 3 & Américo Contreras 3 & Ricardo A. Cabeza 4 Received: 1 July 2020 / Accepted: 30 September 2020 # Sociedad Chilena de la Ciencia del Suelo 2020
Abstract The main aim of this study is to develop a mechanistic model of fertilization for recommending the application of zinc (Zn) fertiliser for maize based on the mass balance of Zn. The model would consider the critical Zn level for maize (ZnCL), Zn availability in the soil (ZnA) and Zn buffering capacity (Znb). Soil samples were collected from 78 maize fields for chemical and physical characterization including measuring ZnA and Znb. Additionally, a crop management survey was carried out in each field. The classification and regression trees method (CART) was used and relationships between Znb and some soil properties were established, clay content being the most relevant to the model, besides soil reaction (pH) and silt content. The application of Zn fertilizer can be adequately calculated by a mechanistic model that considers ZnA, Znb and ZnCL above that which maize crop yields do not increase. This work highlights the importance of Znb evaluation by the incubation procedure and the extraction of available Zn by DTPA solution. As hypothesised and then demonstrated in this work, Znb is closely related to soil pH and texture (clay and silt). Our results suggest that, in between 51 and 97% of fields examined, it would be necessary to apply Zn fertilisers to produce the maximum maize yield. Keywords Soil fertility . Zinc . Soil buffering capacity . Maize, Modelling
1 Introduction Maize (Zea mays L.) is the third most important crop worldwide after rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In Chile, maize covered approximately 80,000 ha during the 2018–2019 season, producing 1 million tons of grain, Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s42729-020-00357-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Ricardo A. Cabeza [email protected] 1
Departamento de Ingeniería y Suelos, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad de Chile, Santa Rosa, 11315 La Pintana, Santiago, Chile
2
Universidad Nacional de Huancavelica, Centro de Innovación y Transferencia Tecnológica, Huancavelica, Perú
3
Departamento de Producción Agrícola, Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad de Chile, Santa Rosa, 11315 La Pintana, Santiago, Chile
4
Departamento de Producción Agrícola, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad de Talca, Casilla 747, Talca, Chile
representing 13% of the total annual crop surface with a mean yield of 12 t ha−1, one of the highest in the world. This is largely due to the favourable temperature and solar radiation conditions of the Mediterranean climate. In Chile, maize is cultivated using conventional irriga
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