Soil Quality in Terms of Pyhsical-Chemical-Metal Properties for Barely (Hordeum vulgare) Production in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico

Abstract

Soil chemical data is necessary for predicting the crops potential yield. The objective was to characterize the soil of the municipalities of Almoloya, Apan and Emiliano Zapata in the State of Hidalgo, Mexico in terms of physical-chemical-metal parameters. The following variables were determined in the soil samples; pH, electrical conductivity (EC), redox potencial (Eh), zeta potential (.), soil moisture, ash content, organic matter (OM), inorganic nitrogen (IN), organic nitrogen (ON), total nitrogen (TN), soil texture, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and the following metals Ca, Mg, K, Fe, Ni, Cd, Pb and Mn. The pH varied from a range of 6.30 in Almoloya s soil to 6.80 in Apan s soil. The EC was higher in Emiliano Zapata s soil with a value of 0.35 dSmG . The Eh was in a range of -19.84 mV observed in Almoloya soil through -29.90 mV in Apan soil. 1 The (.) was -18.73 mV in Emiliano Zapata s soil and -25.24 in Almoloya s soil. The Na, K and Mg concentrations were highest in Apan soils with 30.95, 17.34 and 6.27 mg kgG respectively, while Ca (69.27 mg kgG ), Pb (1.041 1 mg kgG ) and Ni (0.42 mg kgG ) concentrations were highest in Emiliano Zapata s soil.