Full Citation:
Schreier, H. (1983). Soil survey data for land use planning : A case study of raspberry cultivation in British Columbia. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 38(6), 499–503.
Background and Purpose:
Soil survey data are often available in a form that is not useful to land managers. A method is presented for developing “soil management groups” which are related to land capability and production data, with the aim of showing how this technique of interpreting soil survey data can be used to provide “input to the planning and management of raspberry production on different soils” (p.499. The method is applied to a case study area near Abbotsford, British Columbia, which is an important area for raspberry cultivation.
Methods:
Raspberries were chosen as the crop of interest because they “have specific soil and site requirements that, if ignored, usually result in lower yields” (p.500). A 3,452 hectare case study area near Abbotsford, British Columbia was selected and examined in four steps:
- “Essential soil and site conditions were selected for raspberry cultivation.
- Soils in the area were grouped numerically to arrive at soil management groups.
- Soil management groups were related to land capability and productivity.
- Changes in land use, production, and land cost from 1969 – 1981 were determined in relation to the soil information.” (p.500)
Steps 1 and 2 are the focus of this paper summary.
Essential soil and site conditions for raspberry cultivation
The paper presents the most important soil parameters affecting raspberry yields; this information is summarized in the following table. Based on this information, drainage, texture the main surface horizon, available water storage capacity in the main surface horizon, organic matter content in the main surface horizon, depth to pore size discontinuity, texture of the main horizon responsible for pore size discontinuity, and available water storage capacity of the main horizon were chosen for numerical analysis and development of the soil management groups.
Table 1: Soil and Site Parameters Important for Raspberry Cultivation (from Shreier, 1983)
Soil Management Groups
Descriptive and qualitative data on the soil parameters chosen for numerical analysis were available from a soil survey for the test area. These results were coded for numerical analysis and a cluster analysis technique (average distance cluster analysis) used to measure the degree of similarity among soils. Using this technique, 24 soils in the test area were divided into eight soil management groups (Groups A – H, see table 2 below). “The soils in each group have common overall conditions. They differ significantly (alpha = 0.01) from soils in other groups in at least one of the seven chosen soil parameters” (p.501).
Table 2: Soil Management Groups Obtained by Cluster Analysis (from Shreier, 1883)
Verification Using Land Capability and Productivity
To check their validity, the soil management groups were compared to yield data derived from farm interviews and agricultural capability ratings based on the Canada Land Inventory. “A fairly good relationship was obtained between the soil groups and the capability ratings … a general relationship was also obtained between the average yields and the soil groups” (p.501).
Based on the information collected in the verification process, the paper concludes that soil groups A, B, C, D are well suited, group E is moderately suited, and groups F, G, H are poorly suited for raspberry cultivation. “This information can be used by planners and extension workers to suggest where workers to suggest where new introduction of raspberry cultivation is desirable, what average yields can be expected, and what appropriate management recommendations can be developed for each soil group” (p.501).
Relevance to SAL Research
The paper is relevant to Caitlin’s thesis research, Modeling Agricultural Land Use to Maximize Food Self-Reliance in South West British Columbia. Soil management groups are one way to assess the range of crops which can be grown on South West BC agricultural land but currently soil management group data is only available for the Fraser Valley region (see the Soil Management Handbook for the Lower Fraser Valley). If Schreier’s technique could be used to develop soil management groups for the rest of the study area, this would be valuable input data for the model being developed for this project. More work is needed to determine the feasibility of doing this work.
See also:
- Bella Coola Valley Foodshed Analysis Report (another application of soil management groups to assess crop suitability)
- Soil Management Handbook for the Okanagan and Similkameen Valleys