Tillage Effects on Soil in Southern Guatemala: A case study using remote analyses

Thumbnail Image
Date
2017-04-01
Authors
Leichty, Sarah
Major Professor
Advisor
Committee Member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Authors
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Is Version Of
Versions
Series
Series
Honors Projects and Posters
University Honors Program

The Honors project is potentially the most valuable component of an Honors education. Typically Honors students choose to do their projects in their area of study, but some will pick a topic of interest unrelated to their major.

The Honors Program requires that the project be presented at a poster presentation event. Poster presentations are held each semester. Most students present during their senior year, but may do so earlier if their honors project has been completed.

This site presents project descriptions and selected posters for Honors projects completed since the Fall 2015 semester.

Department
Environmental Science
Abstract

Guatemala lacks soils information, yet soils knowledge is essential in order to reduce environmental impacts, improve food security, determine best farming practices, and increase crop yields. Reasons for the lack of information include lack of personnel and difficulty accessing equipment. This study's objective is to remedy those shortcomings via (a) the creation and sending of a soil testing kit, (b) corresponding manual written for non-soil scientist use, and (c) mechanisms to send data to ISU for thorough analysis. The soil testing kit included basic laboratory materials used to test essential soil characteristics such as soil aggregate stability, aggregate size, pH, color, and structure. The field site is an experimental farm owned by the non-profit sustainable agriculture organization, Semilla Nueva. Semilla Nueva has overseen a tillage experiment from 2013 to the present but has not collected soil health data. The present study utilized established experimental plots already subjected to three different management treatments (no-till, tilled, and burned) in order to better understand how different tillage practices affect soil health characteristics in this region. Preliminary results suggest that soil aggregate stability, pH, exchange capacity, and soil structure grade were all negatively impacted by tillage and plant residue burning.

Comments
Description
Keywords
Citation
DOI
Source
Copyright