Soils

Strategies to estimate soil properties used in crop growth models out of spatial soil databases

In any given location, the inherent properties of the soil resource (e.g. soil depth, texture, water holding capacity, drainage, organic matter and nutrient content) and evolution of those properties in response to farming practices are major determinants of the potential long term sustainability of production systems. Poor smallholder farmers, who have very limited capacity to invest in soil improvement or even compensate adequately for loss in soil fertility as a consequence of cultivation, are particularly reliant on the intrinsic quality of their soil resources. Because of this, the spatial patterns of agriculture and agricultural productivity are usually highly congruent with the spatial distribution of soil types and their associated soil properties.

The following two different types of spatial soil databases are used in HarvestChoice to characterize production systems and estimate the impact of management changes.

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Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD)

The HWSD, jointly being developed by FAO, IIASA, ISRIC, ISSCAS, and JRC, is a mapping unit-based soil property database. For sub-Saharan Africa, the HWSD 1.0 characterizes more than 7,000 soil mapping units with 132 soil types. On average, each soil mapping unit contains information on more than 3 different soils.

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WISE Global Soil Profile Database

Global Soil Profile Database is being developed and managed by ISRIC, and it provides point-basis information of soil profiles, including soil chemical and physical characteristics. Following map shows the location of WISE 1.0 soil profiles in sub-Saharan Africa (click pushpin to find soil profile information).