Evaluation of Comprehensive Soil Data Bases for Crop Model Applications.

The International Soil Reference and Information Centre (ISRIC) had developed a soil database commonly referred to as the ISRIC-WISE Harmonized Global Soil Profile Database (WISE 3.1). This database encompasses soil attributes for 10,253 soil profiles from 149 countries. Quality control for soil characteristics was applied and estimation of missing values was based on pre-established ranges reported in the literature and relationships among other variables. The soil database was fitted to the world standard formats of the International Consortium for Agricultural Systems Application (ICASA). Out of a total of 10,253 profiles, 9,613 had sufficient soil surface and profile information for conversion into the format used by the Cropping System Model (CSM) of the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT). Most of the soil profiles of the WISE 3.1 database were assumed to be agricultural soils or soils suitable for crop production or rangeland. Nevertheless, an appropriate use of the data permits for a wide range of agricultural and environmental applications at regional, continental, and global scales. SAS9.2 software was used to convert WISE 3.1 into the required format. Each of the profiles was evaluated using the sensitivity analysis option of DSSAT for standard experiments of maize, soybean, sorghum and wheat for treatments that included low nitrogen and rainfed and high nitrogen and irrigation conditions. A seasonal analysis for 30 years for the same treatments for each soil types using the FAO1990 classification was also conducted. The simulations showed the differences among groups for total biomass and yield and between treatments. Furthermore, the results provided information about the suitability of each soil profile for crop production and crop response due to annual weather variability. The soil profiles that were developed can be used for crop model applications to address issues associated with agricultural productivity and food security in a changing climate.