Fertility Status and Spatial Distribution of Soil Properties for Tobacco Growing Lands in Tokat Province

In this study, a total of 202 surface (0-20 cm) soils were collected from the lands of the producers who made contractual production with private companies in the villages where tobacco cultivation is intensively carried out in the Erbaa district of Tokat province. Basic soil properties, macro phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and sodium (Na) and micro nutrient (Fe), zinc (Zn) copper (Cu) and manganese (Mn) concentrations of soil samples were determined. Spatial distributions of clay content, pH, EC, calcium carbonate, macro and micro nutrient concentrations of tobacco growing lands were modeled using geostatistical methods and spatial distributions were mapped. The coordinates of the sampling locations were recorded using a precise GPS. Soils were mostly neutral and slightly alkaline. Neutral soil pH is desired for sustainable tobacco production. Plants may not be able to uptake some of nutrients in soils with moderate alkalinity. In this case, the use of acid character fertilizers is recommended. All of the macro nutrients are at sufficient levels in the tobacco growing lands. Copper and iron concentrations were at sufficient levels in all fields. Plant available manganese was sufficient in almost half of the sampled lands, while it was insufficient in the other half. Available zinc concentration was well below the sufficient level in most of the lands. In order to increase the production to the desired level, fertilizers should be applied based on the plant requirement and soil analysis results. The registration of the soil sampling locations provides an opportunity to create a very useful database for researchers, producers and suppliers who want to understand how the quality of the tobacco growing lands has changed over time.