Determination of Variable Rate Fertilizing Amount in Small Size Fields Using Geographic Information System

The feasibility of precision farming for small sized fields was studied by determining fertilizing amount of nitrogenous and calcareous to a cite specific region. A detailed soil survey at three experimental fields of 672㎡, 300㎡ and 140㎡ revealed a considerable spatial variation of the pH and organic matter(OM) levels. Soil organic matter was measured using Walkley-Black method and soil pH was measured with a pH sensor. Soil sample was obtained by Grid Node Sampling Method. The soil sampling depth was 10 - 20 cm from the soil surface. To display soil nutrient variation, a soil map was made using Geographic Information System (GIS) software. In soil mapping, soil data between nodes was interpolated using Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) method. The variation was about 1 - 1.8 in pH value and 1.4 -7 % in OM content. Fertilizing Amount of nitrogenous and calcareous was determined by the fertilizing equation which was proposed by National Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology.(NIAST). The variation of fertilizing amount was about 3 - 11 kg/10a in nitrogenous and 70 - 140 kg/10a in calcareous. The results showed a feasibility of precision fertilizing for small size fields.