Carmina Fandos, Federico José Soria, Pablo Scandaliaris, Javier Ignacio Carreras Baldrés and Gerardo Agustín Sanzano
Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres, Tucumán, Argentina; carminaf@eeaoc.org.ar
Soil fertility maps enable the detection of areas with different nutrient levels, and identifying environments with varying production levels contributes to zoning and the management of practices that allow for the differential treatment of each zone. Since soil fertility is a major factor influencing sugarcane productivity, this study aimed to relate the zoning of the sugarcane-growing area in the Tucumán province, based on production levels, to the fertility maps of sugarcane soils. Several thematic layers were analyzed in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. The analysis was based on maps of Soil Organic Matter (SOM) and pH of sugarcane soils, and the zoning of the sugarcane-growing area in Tucumán according to production levels. Although low-production zones are distributed throughout the sugarcane area, they predominated in the central sector, within the Depressed Plain, mainly in the departments of Simoca, Monteros, and Chicligasta, where areas with SOM values below 1.5% prevail. Regarding pH, in general, there are no limitations in the Depressed Plain, except in the departments of Simoca and Leales, where some areas show a predominance of alkaline pH. Low-production zones in the piedmont region strongly coincide with soils with moderately acidic pH, particularly in the western sector of the Monteros department. As for the higher production areas, there is a notable prevalence in the Chaco-Pampean Plain region and the northern sector of the Depressed Plain. In these areas, SOM and pH values show a high correlation with areas without limitations for both variables. The generated thematic maps serve as a basis for zoning according to productivity and fertility, which contributes to the implementation of agricultural practices suited to each situation. They also provide a foundation for future studies that include other variables, such as burning frequency, harvest time, etc., which would improve the delimitation of environments with homogeneous characteristics and, consequently, their agronomic management.