Evaluación de la calidad del suelo en el sistema productivo de pitahaya en el cantón Palora, provincia de Morona Santiago

Abstract

The main objective of the current research was to evaluate the quality of the soil in the pitahaya production system in the Palora County, where compared three producing farms, chosen for their years of production, 20, 10 and 5 years. Through the methodology made a reconnaissance of the farms, and then with a monitoring process extracted 16 simple subsamples in order to obtain 4 composite samples for each farm. The points were located with the help of a GPS to subtract the soil samples with a depth of 20 cm being also useful to identify the macrofauna; the soil samples were sent to the private laboratory of INAIP, and evaluated in the laboratories of the ESPOCH too. The parameters were pH, electrical conductivity, macro and micronutrient concentrations and macrofauna giving results such as: QIn F1: 152.34 (Very High Quality), QIn F2:8.49 (Very High Quality) and QIn F3: 88.12 (Very High Quality). It concluded that the three farms study have a very high quality despite the fact that their years of production are different. It was evident that there is no significant difference in concentrations between the parameters analyzed; pH, electrical conductivity and phosphorus are important parameters that influence the performance of these soils by allowing the accumulation, retention and adequate transport of micro and macronutrients. Though the research was possible to identify the conditions in which the soils are found due to pitahaya monoculture and how farmers in the area take good agricultural practices into consideration. Finally, it made a model of a management plan for agricultural use that will help the producers of this area to take into account advice for the care and management of this fruit and thus protect the health of the soil.