SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF SOIL PHYSICOEHEMICAL PROPERTIES IN HILL TORRENT COMMAND AREAS OF PUNJAB, PAKISTAN - Muhammad Asif; Khurram Mubeen; Shahzad Ahmed; Naeem Sarwar; Allah Wasaya; Tauqeer Ahmad Yasir; Abdul Ghaffar; Mudassir Aziz; Amar Matloob; Shakeel Ahmad; Matloob Ahmad; Waseem Hassan; et al. (Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, 2026)
Soils in arid to semi-arid areas, which receive hill torrents in many countries around the world, are continually under threat of soil loss, rendering fertile and productive lands barren over time. Mapping of soil properties contributes to better management practices leading to enhanced crop production. This study examines the influence of altitude on the physico-chemical qualities of soil in 13 hill torrent affected regions of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur from the Sulaiman range. 351 soil samples from 3 soil depths (0–15 cm), (16–30 cm), and (31–45 cm) were taken at three altitudes of each hill torrent command area. Portable GPS coordinates were collected for each elevation and hill torrent location. Physico-chemical soil parameters were determined using standard procedures. <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: T; color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext; background: white; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">For this investigation, a representation of soil parameters was created using the ArcGIS 10.2 software. The soil was sandy in the upper elevated command areas of most of the hill torrents except Pitok and gradually became loamy to clay loam in the lower command areas. Other soil attributes were better at higher elevations except for total nitrogen, which probably leached under heavy hill torrent flows. Bulk density ranged between 1.56 in upper slope of Sanghar to 1.36 in lower slope of Zangi; interaction of Soil pH ranged from 8.81 in Vidor at upper elevation at upper 15 cm soil depth to 7.9 in Chachar at lower elevation and 31-45 cm soil depth. Whereas, interaction of organic matter ranged from 1.23% in Suri Shumali at upper elevation with upper 15 cm soil depth to 0.15% in Suri Janobi at lower elevation with 31-45 cm soil depth. With increasing soil depth from the surface, up to 45 cm, the soil properties worsened in terms of supporting plant growth based on soil texture and likely presence of hard plough pan. There were marked differences for various soil fertility parameters across soil depths and hill torrent sites. Moreover, good crop production is possible in hill torrent command areas of Punjab, Pakistan.
Keywords: journal article; Spate irrigation; soil properties; geospatial analysis; hill torrent; GPS; GIS