Improvement of the Soil Moisture Retrieval Procedure Based on the Integration of UAV Photogrammetry and Satellite Remote Sensing Information

In countries characterized by arid and semi-arid climates, a precise determination of soil moisture conditions on the field scale is critically important, especially in the first crop growth stages, to schedule irrigation and to avoid wasting water. The objective of this study was to apply the operative methodology that allowed surface soil moisture (SSM) content in a semi-arid environment to be estimated. SSM retrieval was carried out by combining two scattering models (IEM and WCM), supplied by backscattering coefficients at the VV polarization obtained from the C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), a vegetation descriptor NDVI obtained from the optical sensor, among other essential parameters. The inversion of these models was performed by Neural Networks (NN). The combined models were calibrated by the Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 data collected on bare soil, and in cereal, pea and onion crop fields. To retrieve SSM, these scattering models need accurate measurements of the roughness surface parameters, standard deviation of the surface height (hrms) and correlation length (L). This work used a photogrammetric acquisition system carried on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to reconstruct digital surface models (DSM), which allowed these soil roughness parameters to be acquired in a large portion of the studied fields. The obtained results showed that the applied improved methodology effectively estimated SSM on bare and cultivated soils in the principal early growth stages. The bare soil experimentation yielded an R2 = 0.74 between the estimated and observed SSMs. For the cereal field, the relation between the estimated and measured SSMs yielded R2 = 0.71. In the experimental pea fields, the relation between the estimated and measured SSMs revealed R2 = 0.72 and 0.78, respectively, for peas 1 and peas 2. For the onion experimentation, the highest R2 equaled 0.5 in the principal growth stage (leaf development), but the crop R2 drastically decreased to 0.08 in the completed growth phase. The acquired results showed that the applied improved methodology proves to be an effective tool for estimating the SSM on bare and cultivated soils in the principal early growth stages.

Bacterial Community and Diversity from the Watermelon Cultivated Soils through Next Generation Sequencing Approach

Knowledge and better understanding of functions of the microbial community are pivotal for crop management. This study was conducted to study bacterial structures including Acidovorax species community structures and diversity from the watermelon cultivated soils in different regions of South Korea. In this study, soil samples were collected from watermelon cultivation areas from various places of South Korea and microbiome analysis was performed to analyze bacterial communities including Acidovorax species community. Next generation sequencing (NGS) was performed by extracting genomic DNA from 92 soil samples from 8 different provinces using a fast genomic DNA extraction kit. NGS data analysis results revealed that, total, 39,367 operational taxonomic unit (OTU), were obtained. NGS data results revealed that, most dominant phylum in all the soil samples was Proteobacteria (37.3%). In addition, most abundant genus was Acidobacterium (1.8%) in all the samples. In order to analyze species diversity among the collected soil samples, OTUs, community diversity, and Shannon index were measured. Shannon (9.297) and inverse Simpson (0.996) were found to have the highest diversity scores in the greenhouse soil sample of Gyeonggi-do province (GG4). Results from NGS sequencing suggest that, most of the soil samples consists of similar trend of bacterial community and diversity. Environmental factors play a key role in shaping the bacterial community and diversity. In order to address this statement, further correlation analysis between soil physical and chemical parameters with dominant bacterial community will be carried out to observe their interactions.

Effect of culture conditions on nitrogen-fixing activity of bacteria isolated from cassava cultivated soils of Vietnam

The bacteria capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen were isolated from cassava cultivated soils of Vietnam. The potential isolates were identified by analyzing the 16S rRNA gene and by morphological, biochemical, cultural characteristics. The selected isolates were assigned to the species Bacillus sp. DQT2 M17, Bacillus subtilis DTAN6 M17, and Bacillus megaterium DSHB I8. The effect of culture conditions on the nitrogen-fixing activity of three selected isolates were studied and the obtained results showed that the highest amount of accumulated ammonia was detected after 6 days of incubation at 35 oC, pH 7.0 with sucrose as a carbon source. The selected strains could be exploited as inoculants for microbial fertilizer production.

Assessment of native cadmium-resistant bacteria in cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) - cultivated soils

Traces of cadmium (Cd) have been reported in some chocolate products due to soils with Cd and the high ability of cacao plants to extract, transport, and accumulate it in their tissues. An agronomic strategy to minimize the uptake of Cd by plants is the use of cadmium-resistant bacteria (Cd-RB). However, knowledge about Cd-RB associated with cacao soils is scarce. This study was aimed to isolate and characterize Cd-RB associated with cacao-cultivated soils in Colombia that may be used in the bioremediation of Cd-polluted soils. Diversity of culturable Cd-RB, qualitative functional analysis related to nitrogen, phosphorous, carbon, and Cd were performed. Thirty different Cd-RB morphotypes were isolated from soils with medium (NC, Y1, Y2) and high (Y3) Cd concentrations using culture media with 6 mg Kg-1 Cd. Cd-RB were identified based on morphological and molecular analyses. The most abundant morphotypes (90%) were gram-negative belong to Phylum Proteobacteria and almost half of them showed the capacity to fix nitrogen, solubilize phosphates and degrade cellulose. Unique morphotypes were isolated from Y3 soils where Burkholderia and Pseudomonas were the dominant genera indicating their capacity to resist high Cd concentrations. P. putida GB78, P. aeruginosa NB2, and Burkholderia sp. NB10 were the only morphotypes that grew on 18 up to 90 (GB78) and 140 mg Kg-1 Cd (NB2-NB10); however, GB78 showed the highest Cd bioaccumulation (5.92 mg g-1). This study provides novel information about culturable Cd-RB soil diversity with the potential to develop biotechnology-based strategies.

Changes in the profile properties and chemical weathering characteristics of cultivated soils affected by anthropic activities

Natural evolution; Anthropic activities; Macromorphological characteristics; Chemical weathering; Soil genetic classification.

Depth-Wise Fertility Status of Cultivated Soils in Low and Mid Hill Regions of Himachal Pradesh

Detailed knowledge of the soil nutrient status is required in site-specific crop production systems. Moreover, the vertical distribution of plant nutrients is most important for plant production. Therefore, the study was conducted to assess the depth-wise soil fertility status of low and mid hill zones of Himachal Pradesh based on thirty-one (31)soil profiles. Geo-referenced depth-wise soil samples were collected. These thirty-one (31) soils sampling sites were selected to represent the cultivated soils (Entisols, Alfisolsand Inceptisols) under major land-use systemsof low and mid-hill zones of Himachal Pradesh. The results of the soil nutrient status revealed that low to medium content of available N, P and S, low to medium content of available K except fewsubsurface horizons in Inceptisolswas found in most of the soils of low hill zone. Under different land-use systems in mid-hill zone, medium to high content of available N and K, low to medium of available P, low to high of available Swas found in most of the soils. Generally, surface soils had a higher mean values of N, P, S, Cu and Zn and lower values of K, Ca, Mg, Fe and Mn. Alfisols had higher value of all the nutrients as compared to Entisols and Inceptisols.