Research Symposium-2015

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Browsing Research Symposium-2015 by Author "Abeysekara, N.N.R"

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    Mapping soil chemical properties and leaf quality parameters relation to tobacco production in Sri Lanka: a GIS approach
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2015) Marasinghe, H.C.; Rathnayake, R.M.C.W. M.; Abeysekara, N.N.R
    Tobacco (Nicotianatabacum L) holds an unparalleled position among crop plants and in overall terms, the status achieved by this single species is truly remarkable (Akehurst, 1981). This crop significantly influences on world trade as a leaf basis product and is also a commercially widely grown crop as a non–food field crop (Akehurst, 1981).The chemistry and fertility of soils greatly influence the tobacco plant growth, leaf size, yield and physical, chemical and manufacturing properties of tobacco leaf.Among factors that influence on tobacco productivity, soil fertility and fertilizer use contribute nearly 50% of the yield and quality improvement of tobacco crop (Krishnamurthy and Deosingh, 2002). Thus, by changing the soil properties and water quality, the yield and the quality of the final product can be greatly changed. Identifying lands with suitable soil propertiesfor the cultivation will help to understand the correct fertilizer application. Fertilizer recommendation based on soil test is important for improving the fertilizer use efficiency and thereby to increase the yield and quality of tobacco. An understanding of spatial distribution of soil properties in the field is important for refining agricultural management practices. Soil variability is the outcome of many processes acting and interacting across a continuum of spatial and temporal scales and inherently scale-dependent (Cambardella et al., 1994). Therefore, the study of relationship between the soil chemical properties and leaf quality can provide a scientific basis to find potential lands for quality tobacco production.This research presents the future potential tobacco growing areas based on the tobacco leaf quality distribution. Materials and methodology In this study,Galewala and Mahiyanganaya tobacco growing areas were chosen as sample area.Data were collected from primary and secondary sources. Soil property data which wererecorded Ceylon tobacco company’s (CTC) lab reports were collected as secondary data. Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates were taken fromthe field as primary data. Soil analysis was undertaken by collecting soil samples in studyareas from 15 cm deep from the soil surface. The soil samples were collected from ten different places of one land with approximately 1kg of weight. Soil samples were analyzed for pH, organic matter, electrical conductivity, soil texture, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium/magnesium ratio, magnesium/potassium ratio, phosphorous, acid saturation, cupper, ferrus, manganese and zinc. Leaf quality data were taken from the CTC lab reports and identified the leaf nicotine percentage, chloride percentage and sugar percentages from the plants in selected locations. Major soil chemical properties which affectontobacco leaf quality were identified by correlation analysis in MINITABstatistics. Soil chemical property and tobacco leaf quality distribution maps were processed using interpolation technique in ArcGIS. Interpolated leaf quality maps were reclassified in four suitability rankings i.e. most suitable, suitable, moderately suitable and fairly suitable as shown in Table 01. Finally all leaf quality layers were integrated in a GIS environment to generate the potential map.