Soil & Tillage Research 163 (2016) 282289

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Soil & Tillage Research

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Spatial variability of soil micronutrients in the intensively cultivated

Trans-Gangetic Plains of India
Arvind K. Shuklaa,* , Sanjib K. Beherab , Narendra K. Lenkaa , Pankaj K. Tiwaria ,
Chandra Prakasha , R.S. Malikc , Nishant K. Sinhaa , V.K. Singhd, Ashok K. Patraa ,
S.K. Chaudharye
a
ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Nabibagh, Berasia Road, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 462038, India
b
ICAR-Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research, Pedavegi, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh, 534450, India
c
ChaudharyCharan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana, 125004, India
d
ICAR-Indian Institute of Farming System Research, Modipuram, Meerut, UP, 250110, India
e
Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi, 110012, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 13 October 2015 Soil micronutrient deciency adversely affects crop production in intensive agriculture. However,
Received in revised form 6 July 2016 information on the spatial variability of key micronutrients in intensively cultivated regions of India is
Accepted 11 July 2016 limited. Thus, the present study was carried out in the Trans-Gangetic Plains (TGP) region of India with
Available online xxx the hypothesis that spatial variability of micronutrient availability is high due to small farms and varied
management. The major objectives of the study were (i) to assess the spatial variability of plant available
Keywords: micronutrients, viz. extractable zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) at a regional scale
Indo-Gangetic Plain through geostatistical methods, (ii) to develop distribution maps for soil micronutrients using ordinary
Cationic micronutrient
kriging and (iii) to assess the relationships of micronutrient availability with several soil properties. A
Spatial distribution
total of 5638 soil samples, representative of the surface (015 cm) horizon were collected (covering
Geostatistics
Semivariogram Inceptisols, Entisols, Alsols and Aridisols) during April to June between 2011 and 2014 from farms in 21
Precision farming districts of the TGP. For each micronutrient, semivariograms were calculated and their main parameters
(nugget effect, sill and range) were obtained. Moderate spatial dependence for extractable Zn, Cu and Fe
and strong spatial dependence for extractable Mn were recorded. The nugget/sill ratio values were 0.60,
0.37, 0.34 and 0.19 for extractable Zn, Fe, Cu and Mn, respectively. Available Fe, Zn, Mn and Cu deciencies
(including acute deciencies) were observed in 28, 15, 14 and 13% of soil samples, respectively. Soil pH
showed signicant and negative correlations with the concentrations of extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe;
whereas the correlation was signicant and positive with soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration. The
distribution maps generated could be used as a guide for precise and site-specic micronutrient
management in the study region.
2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
The Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) region of India, covering about
15% of the total area of the country, is one of the most intensively
cultivated regions of the world (Yadav, 1998; Singh et al., 2015). The
Indian IGP consists of four sub-regions, namely (1) Trans-Gangetic
Plains (TGP) covering the states of Punjab and Haryana, (2) Upper
Gangetic Plains covering the states of Uttarakhand and Uttar
Pradesh, (3) Middle and Lower Gangetic Plains covering the states
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: arvindshukla2k3@yahoo.co.in (A.K. Shukla).
of Bihar and West Bengal (Singh et al., 2007). Rice (Oryzasativa)

Wheat (Triticumaestivum) cropping sequence is the dominant
system in the Trans- and Upper-Gangetic Plains whereas rice based
cropping sequences are common in the middle and lower Gangetic
Plains. The role and contribution of the IGP region over the last four
decades to the food and nutrition security of India is well
documented (Yadav, 1998; Kumar et al., 2002). However, declining
groundwater table and soil degradation are the two critical
constraints for sustainable food production in the region (Kumar
et al., 2002; Singh et al., 2007), particularly in TGP.
Unsustainable intensication accompanied by imbalanced soil
nutrient management is one of the major causes of declining

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.07.004
0167-1987/ 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 A.K. Shukla et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 163 (2016) 282289
productivity and land degradation in the region (Singh et al., 2007).
Though a balanced soil nutrient management includes appropriate
mix of organics, and addition of macro- as well as micro- nutrients
through chemical fertilizers, very often the mined nutrients are not
optimally replenished. Such distortions in the soil nutrient
management are highly probable in intensively cultivated regions
such as IGP (Singh et al., 2007, 2015) primarily due to high cropping
intensity, low or non-availability of organics and over-dependence
on chemical fertilizers leading to deciency of several micro-
nutrients.
Large scale deciency of cationic micronutrients like zinc (Zn),
copper (Cu), manganese (Mn) and iron (Fe) in different soils has
been reported world-wide (Sillanpaa 1990; Shukla et al., 2014).
Recent Indian studies report extensive deciency of micro-
nutrients in farms due to regular withdrawal of these nutrients
through crop uptake (Shukla et al., 2014; Shukla et al., 2015). The
distribution of micronutrients may vary in space and time across
management units. In Indian soils, spatial variability in micronu-
trient availability is presumed to be high due to small farms and
varied management.
Geostatistical tools are useful to estimate spatial variability of
soil properties and soil nutrients at eld, catchment as well as
regional scales (Tesfahunegn et al., 2011; Tripathi et al., 2015).
Geostatistical estimation helps in predicting values at unsampled
locations by taking into account the spatial correlation between
sampled points (Webster and Oliver, 1990; Cambardella et al.,
1994). At the catchment scale, Tesfahunegn et al. (2011) reported
strong (8%) to moderate (63%) degrees of spatial dependence for
the soil properties like soil pH, soil organic carbon (SOC), total
nitrogen, available phosphorus, cation exchange capacity and
available Fe and indicated that soil properties mapped on the basis
of kriging interpolation were more accurate than the catchment
average values. Information on the spatial variability of micro-
nutrients in Indian soils is limited. Thus, the present study in
cultivated soils of the TGP of India (one of the most intensively
cultivated regions of the country)was undertaken with the
following objectives, (i) to estimate the spatial variability of
extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe at a regional scale through
Fig. 1. Location of the sampling sites within the Trans-Gangetic Plains in India.
283
semivariogram analysis, (ii) to assess the relationship of micronu-
trient availability with key soil properties, and (iii) to develop
spatial maps for soil micronutrients using the parameters of the
best-tted semivariogram model and interpolation by ordinary
kriging.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Study area
The study region is one of the two most intensively cultivated
states of the country and comprises all of the districts of Haryana
state in the TGP of India. For the study, surface (015 cm) soil
samples were collected from farms in twenty-one districts of
Haryana state (27 500 to 30 N latitude, 76 500 to 77 300 E
longitude and 2001200 metres altitude) (Fig. 1) spreading over
44212 km2. Most part of the study area experiences arid to semi-
arid climate except in the north-east where the climate is relatively
humid. The average annual rainfall ranges between 300 mm
(south-west) to 1300 mm (north) with a state average of 617 mm.
The weather is hot (highest mean temperature 40  C and relative
humidity 35%) in summer and cold (lowest mean temperature
7.5  C and relative humidity 55%) in winter. Soils are alluvial in
nature with sandy to sandy loam texture and belong to the
Inceptisols, Entisols, Alsols and Aridisols classes (Bhattacharyya
et al., 2013).
2.2. Soil sampling and processing
A total of 5638 geo-referenced soil samples, representative of
the surface (015 cm) horizon were collected during April to June
between 2011 and 2014 from farms in 21 districts of the TGP region
of India, following a multistage stratied random sampling
method (Cochran, 1977; Gelfand and Schliep, 2016) and using
stainless steel soil augers. The soil was sampled under the aegis of
the All India Coordinated Research Project of Micro- and Secondary
Nutrients and Pollutant Elements in Soils and Plants (AICRP-MSN),
after harvest of wheat crop. Samples were collected covering
284 A.K. Shukla et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 163 (2016) 282289

different categories of farm sizes, viz. large (>3 ha land holding),
medium (13 ha) and small (<1 ha) farmers. During soil sampling,
farm size was taken into consideration. The number of sub-
samples for making a composite sample was 810 for a large
holding, 56 for medium and 23 for a small holding. Depending
upon the size of the district, about 100600 soil samples were
collected from each one. The collected samples were air dried,
stone and debris were removed, and then they were ground to pass
through 2 mm sieve and stored in polyethylene bottles for analysis.
2.3. Soil analysis
Soil properties including soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC),
calcium carbonate (CaCO3) content and SOC content were
determined following Jackson (1973). Available Zn, Cu, Mn and
Fe in soils were extracted in triplicate by diethylene triamine penta
acetic acid (DTPA) (soil to solution ratio 1:2, shaking time 2 h)
(Lindsay and Norvell, 1978). Estimation of these four micronutrient
cations was done on the clear extract with an atomic absorption
spectrophotometer (AAS) (AA240FS model, Varian Inc., Palo Alto,
USA), with wavelength of measurement being 214, 325, 280 and
248 nm for Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe, respectively.
2.4. Statistical and geostatistical analysis
The minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation (SD),
coefcient of variation (CV), skewness and kurtosis values for each
analyzed soil property were computed. To nd out the relationship
between soil properties and available micronutrients, Pearsons
correlation coefcients were computed. The normal frequency
distribution of data was veried by the KolmogorovSmirnov (KS)
test. The results indicated that the DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and
Fe data passed the KS normality test at a signicance level of 0.05
after logarithmic transformation.
ArcMap 10.1 was used to analyze the spatial structure of DTPA
extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe data and to dene the semivario-
grams. The semivariogram analyses were carried out before
application of ordinary kriging interpolation as the semivariogram
model determines the interpolation function (Goovaerts, 1997) as
given below.
1 X
mh
g h zX i h
Z X i 
2
1 >100% indicate low, moderate and high variability, respectively
2mh i1
Where, g (h) is the experimental semivariogram value at a distance
interval h; m(h) is the number of sample pair values within the
distance interval h; Z(Xi), Z(Xi + h) are sample values at two points
separated by the distance h. Different semivariogram functions
were evaluated to select the best t with the data. Exponential
model was tted to the empirical semivariograms. The exponential
model that tted to experimental semivariograms is dened below
(Burgess and Webster, 1980) as:
  
h
g h C o C 1 1
exp
2
a
Where, C0 is the nugget, C1 is the partial sill, and a is the range of
spatial dependence to reach the sill (C0 + C1). The nugget/sill ratio,
i.e. C0/(C0 + C1) and the range are the parameters which character-
ize the spatial structure of a soil property. The range denes the
distance over which the soil property values are correlated with
each other. A low valueofC0/(C0 + C1) and a high range generally
indicates that high precision of the property can be obtained by
kriging (Cambardella et al., 1994). The nugget/sill ratio was used as
the criterion to classify the spatial dependence of variables. Ratio
values lower than or equal to 0.25 were considered to have strong
spatial dependence, whereas values between 0.25 and 0.75
indicate moderate dependence and those greater than 0.75 show
weak spatial dependence (Cambardella et al., 1994).
The semivariogram models were chosen by using the cross
validation technique, i.e. by comparing the actual values with the
values estimated by kriging using the semivariogram model.
Prediction accuracy of semivariogram models was evaluated by
mean square error (MSE).
Pn
zxi ; yi
z  xi ; yi 2
MSE i1 3
n
Where, n is the number of observation for each case (DTPA
extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe), z(xi, yi) is the observed soil
parameter, z*(xi, yi) is the estimated soil parameter, and (xi, yi) are
sampling coordinates. Using the geospatial parameters of the best-
tted exponential semivariogram model, interpolation was made
through ordinary kriging (Goovaerts, 1997).
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Soil properties and DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in soil
The data showed high variability for EC and CaCO3 content, in
contrast to low and medium variability for pH and SOC,
respectively (Table 1). The CV values of <10%, 10100% and
(Nielsen and Bouma, 1985). The present dataset involved samples
from four soil orders and different size of landholding units and
thus variability in soil properties was expected. The mean
concentration values followed the order: Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu. Accord-
ing to the classication adopted for India (Shukla et al., 2015),
about 15, 13, 14 and28% soil samples were decient (including
acute deciency) in Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe, respectively (Fig. 2).

Table 1
Statistical summary of selected soil properties and DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe (n = 5638).

Variables Minimum Maximum Mean SD CV (%) Skewness Kurtosis

pH 4.50 10.80 8.03 0.50 6.26
0.83 3.16
EC (dSm
1) 0.04 8.50 0.49 0.64 127.00 4.81 10.50
SOC (g kg
1) 0.20 17.10 4.40 1.70 38.40 1.88 6.65
CaCO3 (g kg
1) 0.10 68.00 7.90 1.27 161.00 1.93 3.69
DTPA-Zn (mg kg
1) 0.10 8.00 1.66 1.21 72.70 1.58 2.92
DTPA-Cu (mg kg
1) 0.10 7.97 1.37 1.29 93.90 2.07 5.19
DTPA-Mn (mg kg
1) 0.53 26.60 10.30 5.62 54.50 0.33
0.76
DTPA-Fe (mg kg
1) 0.12 48.80 12.20 9.08 74.10 1.12 0.98

Abbreviations: EC = electrical conductivity, SOC = soil organic carbon, CaCO3 = calcium carbonate, DTPA-Zn = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable zinc, DTPA-
Cu = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable copper, DTPA-Mn = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable manganese, DTPA-Fe = diethylene triamine penta
acetic acid extractable iron, SD = standard deviation, CV = coefcient of variation.
 A.K. Shukla et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 163 (2016) 282289 285

Soils samples Area The variability observed in the available micronutrient con-
centrations was largely due to variation in soil parent material,
60
(a) rainfall and soil management (Li et al., 2008). Although alluvial
50
plain constitutes the large part of the study region, diversity in the
40
physiography is observed with Shivalik Hills to the northeast,
%

30
Aravalli Range in the south and semi-desert sandy plain lying to the
20
southwest. Calcium concretions are a common feature in the
10
alluvial soils. Differences in soil managements also resulted from,
0
<0.3 0.3 to <0.6 0.6 to <0.9 0.9 to <1.2 1.2 to <1.5 1.5
rainfall variability and cropping sequences. The deciencies in Zn
DTPA-Zn (mg kg-1) and Fe are possibly caused by higher CaCO3 concretions in the soil
prole. However, Zn deciency though was prevalent in the study
region has declined over time caused by regular use of zinc
60 sulphate fertilizer, particularly in rice based systems (Shukla et al.,
50 (b)
2015).
40
%

30
20
3.2. Relationship of DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe with soil
10
properties
0
<3.5 3.5 to <5.5 5.5 to <7.5 7.5 to <9.5 9.5 to <11.5 11.5 The DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe concentrations were
DTPA-Fe (mg kg-1) signicantly and negatively correlated with soil pH (r =
0.222;
P < 0.01) whereas signicantly positive correlated with SOC
(r = 0.286; P < 0.01) (Table 2). Low correlation coefcient was
60 due to huge variability in dataset. The results are in agreement
50 (c)
with the observations of Katyal and Sharma (1991) that soil pH,
40 lime content, organic matter, clay content and water content of soil
%

30 had a strong inuence on the micronutrient distribution. In

20 another study, the total Cu content was positively and signicantly
10 correlated with soil organic matter and cation exchange capacity of
0 soil but was negatively and signicantly correlated with soil pH
<2.0 2.0 to <4.0 4.0 to <6.0 6.0 to <8.0 8.0 to <10.0 10.0
(Wu et al., 2010). In our study, the concentrations of Zn, Cu, Mn and
DTPA-Mn (mg kg-1) Fe reduced with the increase in soil pH, which was in agreement
with the observations of Lindsay (1979) who reported that by each
60
unit increase of soil pH in the range from 4 to 9, the solubility of Fe
50 (d) in soil decreases by 1000 fold compared with100-fold decrease for
40 Mn, Cu and Zn. The concentrations of Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in soil
%

30 increased with SOC as revealed by the signicant and positive

20 correlation coefcient. The SOC, improve soil structure and supply
10 soluble chelating agents and reduces oxidation and precipitation of
0 cations, thus resulting in increased concentrations of Zn, Cu, Mn
<0.2 0.2 to <0.4 0.4 to <0.6 0.6 to <0.8 0.8 to <1.0 1.0
and Fe (White and Zasoski, 1999).
DTPA-Cu (mg kg-1)

Fig. 2. Frequency distribution showing per cent soil samples and area in the 3.3. Spatial structure and spatial distribution of DTPA extractable Zn,
particular range of concentration for (a) DTPA-Zn (b) DTPA-Fe (c) DTPA-Mn (d)
Cu, Mn and Fe
DTPA-Cu.

The best-tted model was exponential for all the four micro-
Compared with other micronutrients, acute deciency of Fe was
nutrients (Fig. 3) with low MSE values (Table 3). The nugget (an
observed in a higher number of samples (15%) spread throughout
indication of micro-variability) was highest for Fe, which is
the study area.
ascribed to the fact that the selected sampling distance could not

Table 2
Pearsons correlation coefcients for DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe and selected soil properties.

Variables pH EC SOC CaCO3 DTPA-Zn DTPA-Cu DTPA-Mn DTPA-Fe

pH 1.000
EC
0.254** 1.000
SOC
0.213** 0.060 1.000
CaCO3 0.050
0.051
0.044 1.000
DTPA-Zn
0.222** 0.075 0.286**
0.049 1.000
DTPA-Cu
0.156** 0.088* 0.300**
0.016 0.510** 1.000
DTPA-Mn
0.349** 0.180** 0.258**
0.074 0.351** 0.341** 1.000
DTPA-Fe
0.153** 0.125** 0.332**
0.042 0.424** 0.430** 0.449** 1.000

Abbreviations: EC = electrical conductivity, SOC = soil organic carbon, CaCO3 = calcium carbonate, DTPA-Zn = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable zinc, DTPA-
Cu = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable copper, DTPA-Mn = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable manganese, DTPA-Fe = diethylene triamine penta
acetic acid extractable iron.
*and ** denote signicance at 5% and 1% level respectively.
286 A.K. Shukla et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 163 (2016) 282289

Fig. 3. Experimental semivariograms and their tted models for (a) Zn, (b) Cu, (c) Mn and (d) Fe.

Table 3
Theoretical model parameters tted to experimental semivariograms for the studied micronutrients.

Soil micronutrients Model Nugget (C0) Partial Sill (C1) Sill (C0 + C1) Range (km) Nugget/Sill Spatial Dependence MSE
DTPA-Zn Exponential 0.85 0.57 1.42 32.49 0.60 Moderate 1.01
DTPA-Cu Exponential 0.72 1.42 2.14 61.40 0.34 Moderate 0.98
DTPA-Mn Exponential 4.25 17.7 21.95 5.37 0.19 Strong 1.00
DTPA-Fe Exponential 33.84 57.93 91.77 140.00 0.37 Moderate 0.98

Abbreviations: DTPA-Zn = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable zinc, DTPA-Cu = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable copper, DTPA-Mn = diethylene
triamine penta acetic acid extractable manganese, DTPA-Fe = diethylene triamine penta acetic acid extractable iron, MSE = mean square error.

capture the spatial dependence well. The nugget/sill ratio values
were 0.60, 0.37, 0.34 and 0.19 for Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn, respectively
indicating moderate spatial dependence for Zn, Cu, Fe and strong
spatial dependence for Mn. This is attributed to inherent soil
properties (such as soil pH, EC, SOC and soil mineralogy)as well as
management factors including fertilization and cropping sequen-
ces practiced.
The semivariogram range values of Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn were 140,
61, 32 and 5 km, respectively (Table 3). Samples separated by
distances lower than the range are spatially related, whereas those
separated by a distance greater than the range are considered not
to be spatially related. A large range indicates the value of
measured soil property to be inuenced by natural and anthropo-
genic factors over great distances than properties having smaller
ranges (Lopez-Granados et al., 2002). The different range values for
Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe in these soils might be due to combined effect of
parent material, climate and adoption of different land manage-
ment. In agreement with the present study, several authors
reported range values of 2.59.1 km for Zn, 3.3028 km for Cu
(Behera et al., 2012), 0.766 km for Mn and 2.75.2 km for Fe
(Behera and Shukla, 2014) in some acid soils of India. Information
on the range in semivariogram of Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe acts as a guide
in future soil sampling designs in similar areas. The sampling
interval should be less than half the semivariogram range (Kerry
and Oliver, 2004). It is therefore recommended that for ensuing
studies aimed at characterizing spatial dependency of Zn, Cu, Mn
and Fe in similar areas, soil sampling should be done at distances
shorter than the range found in this study.
 A.K. Shukla et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 163 (2016) 282289 287

Fig. 4. Distribution maps of DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe concentrations in the soil generated by ordinary kriging.

The distribution pattern of the four micronutrients in soils of 4. Conclusions

the studied region was rather similar (Fig. 4), which corroborates
our nding of signicant and positive correlations among Zn, Cu,
Mn and Fe in these soils. Higher values of the micronutrients were
recorded in the northern part of the state, whereas lower values in
the southern, south-western and eastern parts of the state. Spatial
heterogeneity of micronutrients concentration was more in
southern and south-western parts of the state. The different
spatial distributions in micronutrient concentrations were
expected due to physiographic variation viz, northern part of the
state in the alluvial plain zone and hilly and desert sand features in
the south and south-western part of the study region. Further-
more, anthropogenic activities like cultivation of high yielding
varieties of different crops coupled with non-inclusion of micro-
nutrients in fertiliser schedulings also contributed to spatial
variability of micronutrients (Shukla et al., 2015).
The current study showed high spatial variability with
moderate spatial dependence for DTPA extractable Zn, Cu, Fe
and strong spatial dependence for Mn in the intensively cultivated
region of the TGP region of India. Thus, the TGP region may be
grouped into different classes based on similar range of
micronutrient concentrations for precise and efcient micronutri-
ent management. The concentration of micronutrients varied
widely and about 15, 13, 14 and 28% soil samples were decient
(including acute deciencies) in Zn, Cu, Mn and Fe, respectively.
The distribution maps developed for the four micronutrients could
be the primary guide for region specic micronutrient manage-
ment and designing future soil sampling strategies in the
intensively cultivated TGP region of India.
288 A.K. Shukla et al. / Soil & Tillage Research 163 (2016) 282289
Fig. 4. (Continued)
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi, India. The authors thank
the editor and anonymous reviewers for the useful comments and
suggestions for improving the quality of the manuscript.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2016.07.004.
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