Soil fertility maps preparation using GPS and GIS for Narayanpur district, Chhattisgarh, India

Abstract

Soil fertility maps of Narayanpur district, Chhattisgarh were prepared by using Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographical Information System (GIS). Soils of different villages for each Gram Panchayat of the district were collected by Garmin extra MAKE GPS instrument. These GPS based soil samples were processed and analyzed in laboratory for pH, Organic Carbon, available nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, available sulphur, hot water-soluble boron, DTPA extractable Zinc, Copper, Iron and Manganese by using standard methods. All these soil characteristics were entered in attributed table and linked with the GIS software to develop a relational database. The analogue soil fertility maps on 1:250000 scale were geo-referenced and digitized by using ArcGIS software. Thematic layer were developed for block boundaries to prepare the base map. Superimposing polygons (Spatial coverage) of block units on the base map, soil fertility maps were prepared. These maps were integrated in GIS to generate a composite database of GPS based soil fertility maps of Narayanpur district. These maps were divided into 2 mapping units (2 blocks of Narayanur district i.e; Narayanpur and Orchha block). The soils of all blocks were neutral in soil reaction and organic carbon content ranged from medium to high. Mineral nitrogen content was medium whereas, available phosphorus and available potassium content was ranged from medium to high. On the other hand, available sulphur was high. Hot water soluble boron and micronutrients content remained above the critical limits in both the blocks.