Crop production could only occur in areas where the soil resources will support the plant growth. The only way to do this is to locate the soil resources that are available. And towards this end, this lab is conducting a long-term soil survey in the country. The key components of the soil survey include: 1) inventory of the properties of the soil (such as texture, drainage, fertility, pH, etc.) and their spatial distribution over a given area; 2) classification of soil types based on a standard set of physical and chemical characteristics; 3) delineation of compiled soil survey information on base maps; and 4) soil survey interpretation to predict the potentials and limitations of each soil, and estimate productivity and input requirement with different management systems. As such, the soil survey information can be used to plan the land development, improve the soil, maintain soil fertility, develop irrigation system, and implement fertilization programs.
