Spatial variability of physical, chemical and biological properties of agricultural soils in Hidalgo State, Mexico

The organic matter (OM) contained in soils is one of the properties of majorinterest due to his paper in the structure and to his recognized influence inthe dynamics of solutos. Characterization is therefore an aspect of greatinterest. The OM in soils cropped malting barley (Hordeum distichumL.) are relatively low, so that the uncertainty and possible errors of theanalytical method may determine spatial variability studies. In this paperwe developed and validated a method for analysis of OM according to thecriteria of ISO-17025 and designed a quality control, including a study of thevariability that the methodology introduced in the results. With the developedmethodology has conducted preliminary sampling and sampling end of 39and 248 representative samples from a plot planted to malting barley ApanTownship, south of the state of Hidalgo, Mexico, whose aim was to evaluatethe number of samples needed to be taken to characterize this soil and thisproperty (OM). The work was completed with a geostatistical study of thevalues of OM, which conclusions can be drawn for future sampling plans,development of simulation models and field-scale practical application offertilization problems.