Assessment of Soil Properties using GIS Technologies in a Selected Area in Myanmar

Abstract

This study evaluates selected soil properties and maps these under different cropping patterns of Sipintharyar village, Zeyarthiri Township, Myanmar. A total of 130 soil samples were collected at a depth of 0-20 cm, with sample points selected using a Global Positioning System. Soil fertility maps were created using Kriging interpolation in ArcGIS software 10.5. Soil textures in the study area were loam, loamy sand, clay loam and sandy loam. The soils were strongly acidic to moderately alkaline and contained a very low status of soil organic matter (84%), available potassium (89%) while total nitrogen was at a medium (56.92%) level. The coefficient of variation (CV) showed that soil pH was the least variable (9.91%) parameter examined, with mean values ranging from 4.95 to 8.47, while available potassium was highly variable (86.95%) with content values ranging from 1 to 578 ppm. Other selected properties such as bulk density, total nitrogen, CN ratio, electrical conductivity and soil organic matter were found, respectively, to have the following variabilities; 11.68%, 33.84%, 34.86%, 72.23% and 52.07%. Levels of soil organic matter were highly significant, and positively correlated with total nitrogen and available potassium. These variations in soil properties are probably related to the different cropping patterns and fertility management practices employed in the study area.